Murakawa's Okinawa Vacation

To my (three) faithful readers

2011-11-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working on a revamp of the blog that will feature shorter reviews of all the movies I watch, as opposed to sporadic long reviews of a few films. I'm just too lazy to actually put together something decent, it seems!

Stay tuned, my friends.

5 Centimetres per Second

2011-05-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

A+

Directed by Makoto Shinkai

Makoto Shinkai's second full length film, "5 Centimetres per Second" confirms his incredible talent both as a storyteller and visual artist.

"5 Centimetres per Second" is divided into three chapters which follow three main characters -- Takaki, Akari, and Kanae -- from elementary school to young adulthood. The first chapter focuses on Takaki and Akari, who attend the same elementary school and hope to attend the same middle school until Akari moves away. Chapter 2 follows Takaki, now in high school, and Kanae, his classmate who is hopelessly in love with him but can't find a way to tell him. The last chapter, the shortest of the three, follows the three characters into young adulthood.

Since the release of "Voices of a Distant Star" in 2002 Shinkai's critical acclaim has gone from overwhelming to almost hyperbolic. The excitement over his work is absolutely and unquestionably well deserved, however, and each time I watch one of his films I can't help but wish that he had a bigger catalogue behind him so I could feast on his gorgeous works in abundance, rather than watchings his limited filmography over and over again.

"5 Centimetres per Second" hits on many of the same themes that run through Shinkai's work; distance, time, and the enduring, and often debilitating, forces of memory. Shinkai is incredibly adept at exploring these themes, especially the concept of the elasticity of time which can seem infinite one moment and incredibly finite the next. In all of Shinkai's works the characters, always in their teens, often want to say things or do things but often wait for a perfect moment to do so that usually never comes. In other instances their life circumstances pull them apart and seemingly trivial moments (in the case of "5 Centimetres per Second" a broken spark plug, a delayed train) become heavy with importance. It's a universal theme, I believe, and all of us can certainly think of moments in our lives that seemed fleeting or trivial but have, over time, taken on a tremendous amount of importance. Shinkai is a master at exploring this theme and also in giving these moments an emotional weight, often discovered in hindsight by his characters, that give them a tremendous sense of authenticity.

As good as the content of Shinkai's work has been, his animation is probably an even better reason to check out his work. His animation is exquisitely rendered and his use of light (or creation of it, as it is) is second to none. It's a treat to look at and, when coupled with his terrific storytelling, Shinkai's work elevates itself far beyond usual animated fare.

C'est la Vie mon Cheri

2011-05-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

Directed by Derek Yee

Sean Lau and Anita Yuen star in this much beloved Hong Kong tearjerker, directed by the alternately brilliant and puzzling Derek Yee (One Night in Mongkok).

Lau plays Kit, a down on his luck saxophonist who moves into a crumbling apartment block after getting dumped by his more successful girlfriend. His new neighbours are a family of musicians who perform a middlebrow street show to get by. The family's daughter, Min, is a bubbly and optimistic singer who quickly strikes up a friendship with the morose Kit. Min's irrepressible good cheer slowly breaks down Kit's defences and romance begins to bloom between the unlikely pair. Unsurprisingly, their blissful happiness does not last long as Min is soon with a terrible disease.

The biggest problem with tearjerkers is that, in an effort to manipulate the audience, they very rarely accomplish anything resembling true emotional resonance which usually leaves the audience split into two groups -- those who cry profusely at the theatre and then forget about it and those who just roll their eyes and yawn. Yee's film is most definitely a tearjerker but what saves it from becoming another "Lorenzo's Oil" or "A Walk to Remember" (which, based on how well both those films did at the box office, probably isn't something a director would want to be "saved" from come to think of it...) is that it finds a way to connect on an emotional level beyond the scenes that are tailor made to draw tears. For instance, one of the most touching scenes in my opinion was when Tracy (Carina Lau) visits Min in the hospital and the two have a frank discussion about Kit, tinged with both regret, envy, and mutual respect that comes off as far more authentic than any of the film's more nakedly emotional moments.

The other thing that saves Yee's film is the strong acting, anchored by Sean Lau and Anita Yuen who both give charismatic and believable performances that stay as far away from maudlin and overwrought as possible, though at times they both obviously bow to the demands of the script and lay on the melodrama. Lau is one of Hong Kong's best and most consistent acting talents and whoever cast him in this role should be thanked profusely because a lesser actor probably would have sent this one into even cornier territory.

The Last Days of Disco

2011-02-20T14:35:00.001-08:00

A-

Directed by Whit Stillman

The incredibly unproductive Whit Stillman's most recent film, released in 1999, reflects with nostalgia on the last days of the disco movement, one of of America's most unfortunate musical fads.

Chloe Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale play Alice and Charlotte, two young junior editors at a publishing house slogging away in corporate New York by day and hitting up the city's burgeoning disco scene by night. Their venue of choice is the exclusive Club, ruled by the shady Bernie and managed by their friend Des. The girls slip in and out of relationships with a number of characters, including a young ad exec, Jimmy, an environmental lawyer, Tom, and Josh, a self professed disco enthusiast who works as an assistant district attorney.

When "The Last Days of Disco" hit theatres, it received mostly mixed reviews from critics who accused Stillman of being too self referential and his characters of being unsympathetic and overly talky. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE???? Anyone who walks away from "The Last Days of Disco" with anything but a smile on their face is either heartless or just doesn't get it. Stillman has never been out to craft realistic characters facing everyday problems that viewers can empathize with. Rather, he makes films he obviously enjoys, which feature richly over the top dialogue delivered by preppie, vacuous characters. It may sound empty (and it sort of is) but Stillman is never less than totally on the mark which shows me that his characters are what he wants them to be, even if they rarely inspire much sympathy from the audience.

Stillman's influence on filmmakers such as Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach has been well documented but his skill in crafting films with witty, funny dialogue has been greatly overlooked, in my opinion. Indeed, the legion of crappy American comedies featuring soggy, annoying dialogue that attempts to ape the type of verbal sparring that Stillman has perfected are ample evidence of how uniquely gifted Stillman is at writing.

I'd hesitate to say that Stillman's films are very deep, but they are certainly deeper than most critics give him credit for. His films may be populated by barely believable, conceited, and superficial characters but he still gets across a number of poignant observations about the nature of romantic relationships and friendships as well as the humbling realities of the real world, even for coddled members of the upper middle class.

Downhill Racer

2011-01-31T18:52:00.001-08:00

A-

Directed by Michael Ritchie

"Downhill Racer", a 1969 cult film starring Gene Hackman and a young Robert Redford, gets a Criterion release which means that the masses can finally feast their eyes on this forgotten sports gem, tight spandex and all.

Redford stars as Dave Chapellet, an ambitious, narcissistic downhill skier who is called up to join the USA ski team following a catastrophic injury to one of their athletes. Hackman plays the gruff, no-nonsense head coach of the American squad who butts heads repeatedly with the individualistic Chapellet who begins to pile up the victories just as he distances himself from his teamates.

As a sports film, "Downhill Racer" is truly excellent, especially for its racing scenes which are far more authentic and involving then anything I've ever seen on film relating to winter sports. When you consider that the film was made more than forty years ago, the technical achievement of "Downhill Racer" is quite remarkable. The film's setting is breathtaking; snow capped mountain tops and piercingly blue skies to fill up the screen and director Ritchie seems content to allow viewers to luxuriate in his film's mountain splendour.

As a character study, "Downhill Racer" is both interesting and somewhat confounding. Chapellet is an compelling antihero to say the least but he remains totally unlikeable throughout the duration of the film, as aloof at the end as he is at the beginning, a total jerk on and off the slopes. It's difficult to identify with him or sympathize with him, but I still found myself rooting for him as he rips down the slopes in the film's penultimate race. It must be because he's an American. I just can't help myself.

The Samurai I Loved

2010-12-19T20:54:00.001-08:00

A-

Directed by Mitsuo Kurotsuchi

Mitsuo Kurotsuchi "The Samurai I Loved", an adaptation of one of the great Shuhei Fujisawa's stories, somehow escapes the shackles of its wild inconsistencies and readily apparent flaws and morphs into a beautiful and tremendously deep meditation on duty, love and regret.

After his father is forced to commit ritual suicide due to his involvement in a regional power struggle, young Bunshiro Maki must work to rebuild the fortunes of his disgraced household. Meanwhile, his childhood friend Fuko is made to join the court of the fief's Lord in Edo where she eventually becomes the Lord's concubine. Years later they meet again when Bunshiro must help save Fuko and her newborn child from another power struggle ripping through the fief.

Although it's sometimes awkward, often tries a little too hard to pull at the heartstrings, and is also cursed with terrible title, "The Samurai I Loved" somehow pulls through and delivers not just a satisfying overall experience but one with a truly unexpected emotional impact. The film's final act delivers a devastating wallop that, frankly, caught me completely by surprise, which did nothing but heighten the film's emotional punch. Indeed, Kurotsuchi's film lumbers along somewhat awkwardly throughout its running time, tallying up as many hits as misses and then provides us, seemingly out of nowhere, with an incredibly frank, beautiful scene where Bunshiro and Fuko come to grips with lives that hadn't turned out as they had hoped.

I’ve often said (likely to myself…) that one of the most interesting and powerful emotions that can be explored through film is regret or disappointment. Indeed, some of the most powerful scenes in film history deal not with love or death or joy but rather with disappointment. Just think of Setsuko Hara’s Noriko in “Tokyo Story” admitting that life is indeed “disappointing” or Benjamin Braddock’s smile fading away in the bus at the end of “The Graduate”. I think the poignancy of these scenes, much like the final moments of “The Samurai I Loved” is due to the fact that feelings of regret and disappointment are absolutely universal in a way that a traumatic death, rapturous joy or even unrequited love simply are not. There’s therefore a far better chance that viewers will connect specifically with the disappointments of a character than they will with a scenes of heartbreaking death, incredible joy, or boundless romance.

Beyond its denouement, “The Samurai I Loved” is also notable for its gorgeous cinematography and the work of Shomegero Ichikawa andYoshino Kimura as the adult versions of Bunshiro and Fuko (though the actors playing the teenaged roles aren’t bad either) whose restrained performances do much to add to the emotional impact of Mitsuo Kurotsuchi’s film.

Shall we Dance?

2010-11-30T17:17:00.001-08:00

B-

Directed by Mayasaki Suo

Masayuki Suo's “Shalle we Dance” is a respectable though underwhelming rom com that benefits greatly from the work of its stellar cast.

On his way home on the train from work, salaryman Shohei Sugiyama spies a beautiful ballroom dance instructor looking out from the window of her dance school. Spontaneously, Sugiyama decides to sign up for a class, only to find out that his classes will be given by a different instructor. Afraid to admit his real reasons for joining, Sugiyama ploughs ahead and begins to actually enjoy the experience. His newfound passion, however, is highly shameful for a conservative man like himself, forcing him to go to great lengths to hide his hobby from his coworkers and family.

The idea of a Japanese rom com can seem puzzling seeing as how the Japanese aren’t exactly known for displays of affection, emotion, and passion. Director Suo acknowledges as much in the opening frames of “Shall we Dance” as the narrator conveys the stigma surrounding dancing in a buttoned up society like Japan. In "Shall we Dance", ballroom dancing works both as a means of escape for Sugiyama from his restrictive lifestyle as well as a metaphor for the rigidity of modern Japan which, even as it blows away the rest of the world with some of its weirdness, remains a fairly restrictive society. Despite its social commentary, however, “Shall we Dance” stays light and breezy, relying mostly on its underlying premise to provide the laughs and introducing a variety of absurd supporting characters to provide some comic relief when the novelty of watching Sugiyama awkwardly stumble around the dance floor wears off.

Although “Shall we Dance” has its moments, its character development (the cornerstone of any rom com) feels surprisingly shallow for a film that lasts close over two hours. The tense relationship between Sugiyama and his wife gets far too little screen time and too much time is spent developing peripheral characters or watching said characters participate in various dance routines. As a result, the conclusion feels rushed as do the denouements of the various romantic intrigues that unfold throughout the film. Despite its faults the film is saved in large part due to fantastic casting, most notably the starring role of the always excellent Koji Yakusho as Sugiyama.

Ripley's Game

2010-11-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

Directed by Liliani Cavani

Liliani Cavani's take on Patricia Highsmith's popular sociopath Tom Ripley is way less fun than it should be, a tame and rarely interesting film that wastes the potential of Highsmith's character.

Ripley (John Malkovich) is back, this time in Italy where he is playing his trade as an art dealer/criminal and living in a vast but incredibly tacky villa with his wife Luisa. After being insulted by his neighbour Jonathan Trevanny (Dougray Scott), Malkovich decides to recruit the poor chap to perform a hit for gangster Reeves (Ray Winstone). After performing the hit, Trevanny falls deeper and deeper in with Reeves and Ripley, even as Ripley tries to keep the coming fallout from the gang war out of his (villa’s) backyard.

“Ripley’s Game” reminded me a lot of “The Tailor of Panama”. Not that the two stories are similar—they aren’t in the least bit—but rather in that the film adaptations of both are rather boring. I’m not sure what it is about the adaptation of thrillers but many of them seem to translate poorly to the big screen. It may be that building the type of suspense that novelists like Highsmith are famous for is easier over 200-300 page novel than it is in a 90-100 minute film. Regardless, “Ripley’s Game” left me feeling fairly cold, much like Ripley himself, just without the murderous tendencies.

Malkovich’s Ripley is probably truer to Highsmith’s original character than say, Dennis Hopper’s was in “The American Friend”, but it isn’t any more interesting, that’s for sure. The rest of the cast didn’t do it for me either. Dougray Scott’s dramatic turn as the cancer stricken family man Jonathan Trevanny clashed harshly with Malkovich’s low key, effeminate Ripley. The best casting move in “Ripley’s Game” was picking Ray Winstone for the role of Reeves, Ripley’s hapless partner in crime. If there had been more of Winstone and less of Malkovich, Scott, and basically everyone else it might have been a better film. Or maybe it would have just been more like “Sexy Beast”, which would have been fine with me.

My Summer of Love

2010-11-20T14:40:00.000-08:00

Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski

Pawel Pawlikowski's makes magic on a small budget in "My Summer of Love", a riveting, tense and exceptionally well acted story of friendship and deception, both of others and oneself.

Working class Mona meets Tamsin, a spoiled daughter from a wealthy family, by chance over summer vacation. The two girls, neither of whom is particularly stable, embark on a passionate relationship that threatens to swallow them both. Meanwhile, Mona’s brother Phil, recently released from prison, claims to have found Good appears to have turned his life around, leading a worship group from inside his old pub.

When a movie is referred to as “hypnotic” (as “My Summer of Love” boasts on the DVD cover) I rarely expect to actually be riveted to such an extent. Much to my surprise, however, I found myself quite literally hypnotized by Pawlikowski’sfilm. Indeed, I made the poor decision of starting the film right before I should have headed to bed and was immediately riveted, so much so that I literally had to force myself to quit watching an hour past my usual bed time. “My Summer of Love’s” Svengali like grip is due to a number of factors, but cief among them is the tight direction of Pawlikowski who masterfully builds up tension between Mona and Tamsin, as well as the acting of Emily Blunt and Nathalie Press which is fantastic throughout.

Although at its core “My Summer of Love” is about the twisted relationship between Mona and Tamsin, the religious “rebirth” of Mona’s brother Phil is also an important underlying theme. In this regard, “My Summer of Love” seems to take a rather cynical view of religion (in this case a sort of revivalist Christianity). I can understand where Helen Cross, the author of "My Summer of Love" was coming from in her vision of Christianity as a religion riddled with hypocrisy and her portrayal of Phil’s “followers” is not entirely inaccurate, unfortunately. But Cross is no doubt attacking the fringe here, painting a picture of insincere and immature believers whose “faith” is little more than an attempt to escape the difficulties of their past lives. I thought it was a bit of an ugly and unfair portrayal of Christianity but discerning viewers should be able to come to their own conclusions about Cross's treatment of this subject.

Adrift in Tokyo

2010-11-08T16:55:00.000-08:00

B+

Directed by Satoshi Miki

Satoshi Miki’s “Adrift in Tokyo” takes an odd premise and makes it work thanks to breezy humor and the charisma of its two male leads.

Fumiya (Jo Odagiri) is a university student woefully behind on some debts owed to local loan shark Fukuhara (Tomokazu Miura). Seemingly without reason, however, Fukuhara promises to forgive Fumiya’s debts if he’ll take a walk with him through Tokyo to the city’s main police station where he plans to turn himself in.

I'd heard plenty of good things about "Adrift in Tokyo" while it was doing the tour of the festival circuit a few years ago and came away quite satisfied with Miki's offering. "Adrift in Tokyo" hits viewers with a rapid fire of absurd situational humor, some of which works, some of which doesn’t but I found myself laughing out loud at a lot of Miki’s sly gags enough that I gladly overlooked the set pieces that didn't work so well. Any film that tries to throw so much comedic material at its audience is bound to be hit or miss anyways and “Adrift in Tokyo” hits more often that it misses overall and for that, I salute it.

“Adrift in Tokyo ” tries to work at a deeper level as well, reflecting on loss, loneliness, and the importance of family and it does so quite well, mostly because it doesn’t try to go too deep or detract from its comedic raison d'être. There are nevertheless still some poignant moments and Miki’s choice to take a ponderous approach to exploring some weightier themes goes over very well, keeping the proceedings light but still tinged with a wee bit of melancholy. The rapport built between Odagiri and Miura is also surprisingly believable, giving the absurd opening premise some much needed credibility as the film moves forward, even though the father/son motif of their relationship is pushed a bit too far by Miki.

The Tokyo Fumiya and Fukuhara drift around in is, of course, a defining aspect of Miki’s film. Rather than showing the bright lights and big skyscrapers of Shinjuku or Ginza Miki sends his characters walking through the back alleys and tree lined side streets of Japan ’s mega-city. The uniqueness and charm of Tokyo comes through quite well but for audiences who only know the city through movies, it’s a welcome change and an introduction to another side of the city that isn’t seen as often.

Tell No One

2010-10-30T07:18:00.000-07:00

Directed by Guillaume Canet

Gauillaume Canet’s “Tell No One” is a complex, suspenseful and deservedly acclaimed work which serves as an A to Z exposé on what a great thriller should look like.

Alexandre Beck, a paediatrician vacationing with his wife and sister, is brutally assaulted, seemingly without reason, near his lake house by an unknown assailant. He awakes several days later to find out that his beloved wife was killed in the attack. Eight years after her death he is sent an anonymous e-mail containing a link to a live webcam that, inexplicably, shows his wife in real time. Alexandre begins a deadly chase to uncover the mystery, hampered at every turn by the police, a group of hired assassins, and his own family’s doubts about what he claims to have seen.

« Tell No One » does absolutely everything a good thriller should. It’s gripping, intelligent, paced extremely well, and it delivers a truly brilliant payoff to its seemingly far fetched premise. Many very good thrillers go down the drain in their final act when they can’t develop an adequate explanation for the film’s suspense but “Tell No One” takes a seemingly impossible premise and slowly answers the viewers questions as the film progresses, leading to a totally plausible yet nonetheless astounding denouement. In between, however, I wasn’t just twiddling my thumbs waiting to find out the how and the why of the film’s plot. Canet does a fantastic job of keeping the film fresh and exciting throughout its lengthy running time and keeps the proceedings immensely entertaining without resorting to any over the top plot devices. Indeed, Alexandre remains a believable victim throughout, never going on a vengeful killing spree or teaming up with a buddy to dish out some street justice, but doggedly chasing the truth like most people in his situation likely would. Canet wisely introduces enough peripheral characters that we are too busy following the action to wonder who did what to whom which makes the film’s final revelation even more surprising and, ultimately, believable.

It's a great experience for lovers of a good suspense. I recommend it highly.

Fallen Angels

2010-10-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

A-

Directed by Wong Kar Wai

Wong Kar Wai’s “Fallen Angels” is one of the director’s best known works and unquestionably part of his core oeuvre. Although I don’t feel that it measures up to his best films, it’s still a solid effort from a narrative standpoint and an absolute tour de force visually.

Leon Lei plays Wong Chi-Ming, a contract killer working in the seedy underbelly of Hong Kong, whose hits are arranged by a female handler that he never sees (Michelle Reis). Unbeknownst to him, his handler, whos is also responsible for cleaning up his squalid living space while he is out, has become interested in him after hours spent rifling through his stuff. At the same time, in a mostly unrelated parallel storyline (A recurring motif in WKW’s films) Takeshi Kaneshiro plays an excentric mute who begins an unconventional (and unilateral) romance with a jilted woman still obsessed with her former lover.

“Fallen Angels” reprises many of Wong Kar Wai’s classic themes—loneliness, urban isolation, unrequited love and the search for connections in a disappointing and cold world. Although “Fallen Angels” is much less adept than other WKW films such as “Chungking Express” or “Days of Being Wild” at exploring these themes, it doesn’t completely miss the mark either. It’s much less structured than either of the latter two films (or most of his other work, for that matter) and there’s a fair amount of throwaway scenes (particularly those involving Karen Mok), but it’s still infused with the same loneliness and melancholy that are trademarks of WKW’s core works.

Visually, however, this is no doubt Wong Kar Wai’s seminal film, the fullest realization of he and Christopher Doyle’s unique aesthetic vision. The crisp editing, neon drenched color palate and radical camera angles that came to typify Wong and Doyle’s work dominate “Fallen Angels” and the resulting sensory overload makes the films a highly polarizing, love it or hate it (or at least dislike it) experience from an aesthetic standpoint. Although I preferred the visual and audio bravura of “In the Mood for Love” or even “Happy Together”, there is no doubt that “Fallen Angels” offers a unique opportunity to see Wong and Doyle throw caution to the wind and go for broke. It also highlights Doyle’s incredible versatility with the camera and his uncanny ability to excel in diverse genres while still retaining a very distinct visual style. I recall watching “Temptress Moon”, a rather standard nineties costume melodrama, without knowing that Doyle was in charge of the cinematography and realizing, probably five minutes in, that he was behind the camera based solely on how distinctive the visual experience was.

Doyle’s collaborations with WKW remain some of the most visually fruitful in film history mostly because his visual excesses are never (or rarely) restrained by the director. It’s a collaborative approach that’s difficult to pull off but, when done well, can yield wonderful results as evidenced by Doyle and WKW’s excellent body of work together.

Confessions

2010-10-21T18:57:00.001-07:00

Directed by Tetsuya Nakashima

Tetsuya Nakashima’s tale of revenge swings for the fences with its ambitious, scandalous premise but comes up short on the delivery, offering an awkward, overly serious take on a pretty absurd subject matter.

A middle school teacher, following the death of her young daughter, informs her class that she is quitting. Before she does, however, she lets her class know that her daughter’s murderers are in her glass and that, due to the fact that they are both protected by Japan ’s juvenile criminal code, she has taken the law into her own hand and has spiked the milk they drank earlier that morning with a deadly virus. The rest of the film follows the fallout from the teacher’s actions and the two infected students as they struggle to regain control of their lives after the incident.

I don’t have any issue with films that go for the shock factor, but there’s certainly a way to do it that demands a certain amount of tact and skill. Oftentimes films which try to shock work best if they tinge their approach with a fair amount of humor, usually of the absurdist variety, not so much to take the edge off (though it helps) but more to keep a measure of context to the far fetched nature of the plot. While watching “Confessions” I repeatedly thought of another Japanese director, Sion Sono, and couldn’t help but feel that he could have taken the subject matter of “Confessions” gone way, way further with it and still made a film that was entertaining and watchable. Confessions takes itself much too seriously which doesn’t sit well in a film that has such an absurd plot. There are certainly elements here and there in Nakashima’s film that have some promise and a teacher taking revenge on her students is probably a cathartic subplot that a number of individuals in the teaching profession might perversely take pleasure from. But the execution is lacking and despite its considerable length, “Confessions” covers surprisingly little ground.

On the plus side, the technical aspects of the film are for the most part well done and there’s an interesting, if not altogether original, camerawork that runs through “Confessions”. This goes to show, once again, that even a lacklustre film can at least be partially redeemed by attention to more technical details.

Summer Hours

2010-10-17T15:40:00.001-07:00

Directed by Olivier Assayas

Talented french director Olivier Assayas' "Summer Hours" is a wonderful and incredibly perceptive meditation on family, art, and the importance of objects and their relation to memory.

Following the sudden death of their mother, siblings Frederic, an economist living in Paris, Adrienne, an industrial designer living in New York, and Jeremie, a businessman living in China, come together in Paris to decide the fate of their family's summer house and its collection or objets d'art.

"Summer Hours" is a film that lacks big moments, fiery acting, or anything else that really grabs the attention at first glance but it leaves a deep impression nonetheless due to Assayas' deft skill at weaving together an intricate storyline that is filled with wonderful and witty observations. One of the main threads of the film is the erosive effects of globalization on middle and upper middle class families whose sons and daughters often leave the home to pursue their education or careers, never to return. Assayas' film doesn't necessarily pass judgement on these decisions but only observes that they are now the norm and will, inevitably, contribute to making some things, like passing on the family's cottage from one generation to the next, a thing of the past.

"Summer Hours" is also one of the better films about art that I've seen in awhile, insofar has it touches on the lost "art" (pun intended) of collecting objects without interest in financial gain but rather to pass them on, as objects of beauty, to your kin. In "Summer Hours" the children's refusal to hang on to some of their mother's prized collection of art and furniture, although financially shrewd, nonetheless demonstrates their lack of interest in continuing the family heritage or rather their lack of understanding of why these objects mattered to their mother.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

2010-10-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

C-

Directed by Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone’s follow up the one of the most influential films of the eighties, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" is unfortunately a rather unworthy follow up to Stone's groundbreaking essay on greed and the rot of capitalism gone crazy.

After eight long years in prison, disgraced financier Gordon Gekko returns to New York City in an attempt to reunite with his estranged daughter (Carey Mulligan). Unfortunately for Gekko, his daughter has decided to marry the risible Shia Lebeouf who plays Jake (yeah, I know it's just acting, but Mulligan actually started dating Lebeouf during shooting! Bad choice, Carey!) , an ambitious prop trader working for one of Wall Street’s biggest investment banks. Jake’s firm quickly goes south, however, when a rival financier named Bretton James (Josh Brolin) aggressively shorts its stock leading to the collapse of the firm and the suicide of its managing director who was also Jake's mentor. Jake seeks revenge with the help of Gekko, a onetime rival of James, much to the dismay of his fiancé.

Despite Michael Douglas’s return as Gordon Gekko and a premise that seems ripe for some richly deserved skewering of the financial sector, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” is a pretty big disappointment. My feelings were pretty much summed up by a guy who accosted me immediately after the end of the film and exclaimed “What a waste of eight bucks!” Indeed.

Probably the biggest disappointment for fans of the original Wall Street is the minor role Douglas plays in « Money Never Sleeps » as Gordon Gekko. Douglas ’ Gekko is one of the most well known villains of American cinema, a brash, arrogant, morally bankrupt power broker responsible for such awesome quotes as “Lunch is for wimps!” Douglas is back as Gekko in “Money Never Sleeps” but he’s given far too little screen time to light it up like he did in the first instalment and that’s a major bummer, especially since most of his screen time is stolen by the rather blah Shia Leboeuf. It’s a puzzling decision on the part of the screenwriters, especially since Douglas appears to be in vintage form in the few scenes he’s given.

“Money Never Sleeps” also misses the mark in its portrayal of post housing market collapse America and the decrepit financial services industry that brought the system to its knees. The late 2000’s recession is certainly fertile ground for a “Wall Street” sequel since its causes--avarice, greed, and wild speculation--are eerily reminiscent of the anything goes 80’s that the original “Wall Street” was based on. Nevertheless, whereas “Wall Street” came to define an economic chapter in American history, “Money Never Sleeps” doesn’t feel nearly as important. Sure, there’s some decent barbs taken at the architects of the financial collapse but there’s nothing as compelling as Gordon Gekko proclaiming that “Greed is good” before dismantling a decent company just to make a quick buck. Part of the problem is that that scathing social critique of “Wall Street” never comes close to being duplicated in “Money Never Sleeps”. Stone has certainly turned down his rhetoric somewhat over the past few years. Even “W” was pretty tame. Although I dislike a lot of Stone’s earlier work for being too overtly biased in its politics, a movie like “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” would have been well served by pulling no punches. The fact that it does is what ultimately sinks “Money Never Sleeps”, though not enough Gordon Gekko is an almost equally important factor.

Ride with the Devil

2010-10-04T18:22:00.000-07:00

A-

Directed by Ang Lee

Ang Lee's unjustly obscure "Ride with the Devil" is a wonderful and unfortunately misunderstood film from one of the uncontested masters of world cinema.

Toby Maguire stars as Jake Rodell, a young Missouri boy who joins the Confederate "Buschwhackers" with his friend Jack Bull after his parents are killed in a raid by the Unionist "Jayhawkers". They boys participate in a number of skirmishes before retreating to the wilderness to wait out the winter where Jack Bull falls in love with the beautiful Sue Lee.

In what is no doubt the biggest irony of Ang Lee's venerable career, the very american "Ride with the Devil" was made before Lee came to the attention of American audiences with the very chinese "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". Indeed, despite its all star cast, wonderful direction, and the fact that it was inspired by american history, "Ride with the Devil" was an epic flop at american box offices. Interestingly, "Brokeback Mountain", a commercial and critical success without precedent for Lee in the US is similar in many ways to "Ride with the Devil" except that the latter film benefited from better marketing and, most importantly, a far more controversial subject matter that succeeded in getting moviegoers into theatres. It's a shame though, because "Ride with the Devil" is a very good movie. The acting is truly fantastic, the visuals are sumptuous, and the subject matter, although given a predictable and somewhat disappointing cut-down-the-middle treatment, is still relatively well handled.

One of the reasons The Criterion Collection is so widely respected is that it takes an independent minded view of what films deserve to be seen by a wider audience. Sure, they've refurbished several classics that are touchstones of cinema and beloved by all, but "Ride with the Devil" is a movie that received mixed reviews from critics and didn't even register on the radar of moviegoers when it was released. Nevertheless, the good people at Criterion decided, rightfully so I might add, that more people needed to watch this movie and it therefore got the Criterion treatment. A wonderful decision and a credit to Criterion's continuing importance to cinema.

Whisper of the Heart

2010-08-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

“Whisper of the Heart” my not be known to wider audiences as well as Miyazaki’s greatest hits like “Totoro” or “Spirited Away” but it remains one of his finest works and one of the best examples of his exceptional storytelling.

Miyazaki’s protagonist in “Whisper of the Heart” is Shizuke, a carefree junior high student who loves books but takes a bit of a cavalier attitude towards school, resulting in a poor performance on her high school entrance exams. One fine day, rather than studying for her entrance exams, she follows a cat through the streets of Tokyo and into a secluded and leafy neighbourhood where she discovers an antique shop owned my Mr. Nishi, the grandfather of a mysterious boy who by turns fascinates and repels Shizuke.

In my opinion one of Miyazaki ’s most outstanding achievements throughout his career has been his ability to make films that are both enjoyable and topical to an incredible range of viewers. A film like “Whisper of the Heart” can be watched and enjoyed by viewers of any age which, when you really think about it, is something incredibly rare for a film. Even animated classics like “Pinocchio” or “Alice in Wonderland” which can be enjoyed by young and old alike are still more obviously aimed towards younger audiences. Miyazaki ’s films always seem to be made for everyone and the intended audience is for the most part purposefully unclear. “Whisper of the Heart” is perhaps one of the best examples of Miyazaki ’s generalist appeal. Like most of his work, the story features a young girl as its main protagonist and many of the characters are children. Despite this the adults in the story are given plenty of attention in the story and their own issues are explored at the same time as those of (Shizuku and her friends). The core of the story does, however, remain centered around familiar topics revisited by Miyazaki throughout his career—children on the cusp of adolescence trying to find their way in a colder grown up world without losing their sense of wonder or losing touch with all the freedoms that make childhood great.

It will come as no surprise to those familiar with Studio Ghibli that the art work is gorgeous, rendered in a light and airy palate that reminded me a great deal of the recently viewed “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”. Miyazaki and his team fill the screen with interesting little details that make a repeat viewing solely due to the artwork worthwhile if not obligatory.

Written By

2010-07-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

D

Directed by Wai Ka Fai

Wai Ka Fai, longtime scriptwriter for Johnnie To, decides to strike out on his own with "Written By", a messy, confusing, and ultimately forgetable effort that leads me to believe that he should just stick with To in the future.

Ching Wan Lau (who is excellent, as usual) plays a lawyer who dies following a car crash that leaves his youngest daughter blind. His family struggles to deal with his absence and, in an effort to deal with their loss, the daughter begins to write a novel where the family dies and the father survives. This sets in motion a series of "rewrites" of the original tragedfy by both the father and the daughter that leave the viewer in doubt as to what exactly is happening and who is really there.

This stinker is a total mess from start to finish. Wai starts with an interesting (if probably unsustainable) premise but he he quickly throws caution to the wind and lets his narrative runs its nonsensical course without worrying about its credibility. Plot holes the size of the Grand Canyon begin to appear and the film is pretty much a lost cause even before the crappy special effects come into play in the second part of the film.
Fantasia described Wai as the "Charlie Kaufman of Hong Kong" and indeed the similarities are striking. Like Kaufman, Wai is at his best when he sticks to writing and his creativity is reigned in by a more talented director. Without this his work becomes bloated, pretentious, and messy. It's disappointing because Wai is behind some of the absolute best and most intelligent Hong Kong films of the past several decades so there's ample evidence to show that he knows what he's doing. As a director though he just doesn't have it, as "Written By" so clumsily shows.

Castaway on the Moon

2010-07-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

A

Directed by Hae Jun Lee

Hae Jun Lee's little gem of a movie, his first as a director, mind you, announces the arrival of an exciting and very talented new voice in Korean cinema.

After a failed suicide attempt, Mr. Kim, a heavily indebted salary man washes up on an island in the middle of the Han River. Even though he is within swimming distance of Seoul, he can't get oiff the island because he can't swim. He also can't contact anyone in the outside world because they either don't see him or can't understand his please for help. Confined to this unforgiving world, Mr. Kim goes about surviving the elements and reinventing himself in the "wild". At the same time, a reclusive girl suffering from a social anxiety disorder begins to watch Mr. Kim from afar and seeks deperately to contact him.

Ahh….what a wonderful movie. "Castaway on the Moon" strikes a pitch perfect balance between raucous comedy, survival mini-epic, and romance that is really astounding for a first time director. Lee starts off with a pretty ambitious premise and then has to keep several balls in the air throughout the duration of the film but he succeeds admirably. Watching Kim's transition from despondent castaway to savvy survivalist is always hilarious but it's also deeply moving at times and not always in expected ways. Lee's film also serves as a cautionary tale on the weight of worldly posessions and the emptiness of material things, but it never goes overboard or becomes preachy. The parralel storyline involving the reclusive girl fits in wonderfully with the story arc and the two characters build palpable chemistry throughout the film even if they never see each other. The extremely flat faced Jeo-yeoung Jeong proves yet again that he has a particular gift for comedy, giving an emotional, over the top performance that is totally hilarious without being too much.

Air Doll

2010-07-18T19:51:00.001-07:00

Directed by Koreeda Hirakazu
Koreeda Hirokazu's "Air Doll" turns a potentially raunchy premise into an interesting rumination on loneliness that nonetheless lacks the depth of his previous work. The presence of the wonderful Bae Doona makes the film a more than worthwhile time investment, however.

Bae plays an air doll named Nozomi who is owned by a lonely fast food employee who used her as a substitute for a proper girlfriend. He bathes her, easts with her, takes her out to the park, and of course sleep siwht her as well, as shown to us in amusing and, at times, uncomfortable detail. Unbeknownst to her owner, however, Nozomi has developed a heart, as well as an ability to turn human, and has set about discovering the city in his absence.

I had very, very high hopes for "Air Doll" but to be frank, I left disappointed. Being disappointed by a film is not always a bad thing, however, because it's evidence that we at least expected something good in the first place. I don't think too many people are "disappointed" by Uwe Boll's films, for instance. In the case of "Air Doll", however, plenty pointed to this movie being great, not least he fact that director Koreeda Hirokazu is responsible for some of the best Japanese films of the best several decades including "Maborosi", "Nobody Knows", and "After life". Any fan of Japanese cinema should properly revere those three films as msterpieces and I'm sure I wasn't the only one to expect "Air Doll" to measure up to his past work. The presence of Bae Doona as the lead actress was also a tantilizing prospect since Bae has slowly carved out a niche for herself as a darling of the festival masses due to her performances in such sleeper hits as "Take Care of my Cat" and "Linda, Linda, Linda", not to mention mega-hit "The Host". The combination of Hirokazu and Bae doesn't exactly fall flat but the result isn't as amazing as I had hoped either. My expectations were probably unreasanly high but as I said, there was nothing to prevent me from having sky high hopes for "Air Doll" so I threw caution to the wind and expected to be blown away. I wasn't, unfortunately, and I think the main problem for me was Hirokazu's frustratingly languid script which took ample detours but never really seem focused ons torytelling. Hirokazu's previous work, though slow of pace and sparing in dialogue, has always been extremely focused on telling its central story and not only on exploring larger ideas, even if the larger issues of memory and loss are always present in his work. In "Air Doll" the story seems to take a back seat to ruminations on loneliness that, although not without some profundity, tend to drag along without much direction. As such, Bae's presence in this movie is a godsend since her performance elevates "Air Doll" from ho-hum to at the very least engaging even though it falls well short of Hirokazu's earlier efforts.

Mai Mai Miracle

2010-07-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

B

Directed by Sunao Katabuchi

Hayao Miyazaki's longtime contributor Sunao Katabuchi's "Mai Mai Miracle" is a modest but pleasant animated tale that pays homage to the tutelage of Miyazaki while nevertheless showing glimpses of Katabuchi's particular and exciting talents.

"Mai Mai Miracle" takes place in a small Japanese village where young Shinko lives on a farm with her parents, grandparents, and younger sister. Shinko is a vivacious young girl who believes that her cowlick gives her magical powers. When a girl named Kiiko arrives at Shinko's elementary school, the two quickly become firends and embark on a series of adventures along with a group of classmates. Katabuchi's film also features the parralel story of a young princess named Nagiko Kiyahara who lived in the same village 1,000 years before.

Inevitably, Katabuchi's work will draw comparisons to Miyazaki's due to their previous collaboration and indeed Miyazaki's influence is all over Katabuchi's work, from the rural setting to the lush watercolor art to the magical realism of the storyline involving a pair of young girls coming of age. The tone of the film, hopeful and whimsical but tinged with melancholy, is also very similar to some of Miyazaki's work like "Ponyo" and "My Neighbor Totoro" although Katabuchi's work doesn't delve so heavily into fantasy as either those. Katabuchi does, however, depart somewhat radically from Miyazaki in his choice to include more adult subject matter in "Mai Mai Miracle" and includes such heavy themes as death and suicide at its core.

"Mai Mai Miracle" does not achieve the emotional depth that Miyazaki's better work does but then again few films, animated or otherwise, do so and placing the bar that high for Katabuchi's first effort is both unfair and counterproductive but, as I said, comparisons are inevitable. I think "Mai Mai Miracle" also suffers to some extent by offering a free flowing, rather unstructured plot that meanders greatly until well past the halfway mark. I don't think "Mai Mai Miracle" requires a particularly tight plot since the film is, above all else, about two girls trying to keep hold of their sense of wonder in a cynical world, but a little bit more structure wouldn't have hurt. It isn't a poor effort though and I am excited to see what else Katabuchi comes up with in the future.

Down Terrace

2010-07-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

B+

Directed by Ben Wheatley

Ben Wheatley's no-budget "Downt Terrace" is an enjoyable, though incredibly dark, look at a crime family's disintegration over the course of one week.

Thirty-four year old Karl has just beaten an undisclosed crime charge. He returns to his parent's home (where he still lives) where we are introduced to his overbearing father, unstable mother, and a host of their criminal cohorts. As Karl settles back in at home, his father informs him that he believes there is a rat amongst them and quickly sets out to "find" the rat. No one really tries to smoke out the snitch (if there even is one), however, but the members of the family rather use the excuse of finding the alleged traitor to slowly kill off their closest associates.

Some of the reviews I'd read before watching "Down Terrace" praised its witty dialogue and caustic tone which immediately fear that I'd be sitting through another pretentious piece of crap crime/comedy flick like "In Bruges". My fears were misguided, however, since "Down Terrace" is funny and absurd in all the right ways and takes itself surprisingly less seriously than it probably could considering its overall quality. The humor tends to be Monty Python-esque in the small observations, witty remarks, and ridiculous tangents characters run off on and the film ends up being a rollicking good ride if not an entirely flawless piece of film making. The comedy of errors that leads to such a high body count is often pretty funny to watch but also works well at creating suspense because you never know who is going to get waxed next and for what reason (if any!). As the bodies pile up, however, the circumstances leading to the deaths of several characters become more and more far fetched until murders seem to be happening for no reason whatsoever. The randomness of the hits is part of the point, however, since the director is trying to show how the context of finding the snitch gives everyone an excuse to whack a member of the entourage they have a problem with. Nevertheless, several peripheral characters get taken out for little reason and the events, although willfully absurd, are sometimes still too over the top.

The performances Wheatley gets from his cast of mostly amateur actors is top notch by any standards. Father and son combo of Robert and Robin Hill unsurprisingly have explosive onscreen chemistry which makes me wonder if the two weren't perhaps using the movie as a way to legitimately blow up at each other. The supporting actors are also excellent and the strength of the cast is really a credit to Wheatley who obviously knew how to get the most out of his actors.

We are what we are

2010-07-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

C+

Jorge Michel Grau

The latest entry in the horror-realist genre, Mexican Jorge Michel Grau's "We are what we are" is an uneven and ultimately disappointing film that wastes a pretty decent (if not entirely original) premise.

A family of cannibals living in the slums of Mexico City is faced with dire straights when the family's patriarch, the main bread (or should I say flesh?) winner of the family dies unexpectedly. The family's eldest son reluctantly takes over the grim task of providing for the family but with very messy results.

"We are what we are" covers surprisingly little ground during its 99 minute running time and the film feels incredibly thin as a consequences. Grau's choice to focus on a wide number of characters and spend excessive amounts of time on peripheral events (for instance the banter between two workers at the morgue who never show up in the film again afterward) cripples his film by leaving precious little time for the story at the core of "We are what we are" to develop. Grau also casts his net too wide in trying to deal with several different topics and he manages the pace of the film rather poorly.

This isn't to say that "We are what we are" is a total bust. Grau succeeds in building some real suspense in places and the film also offers some sly moments of black humor that fits well with the overall mood of the film. The film looks authentic despite its less than credible premise and the production values are quite high for a film with such a low budget. In the sub genre of horror-realism, however, "We are what we are" doesn't stand up to the competition.

A Tale of Two Sisters

2010-07-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

A

Directed by Kim ji woon

Kim ji-woon's critically lauded "Tale of Two Sisters" is, to be brief, a superior horror film. Frightening, intelligent, and visually stunning, Kim's film has been considered by many to be the gold standard of asian horror films since its release.

Su-mi and her sister Su-yeon return to their father's country home after a brief absence. They are greeted by their screechy, domineering stepmother who Su-mi quickly locks horns with. Although it's Su-mi, the louder, more confrontational of the two sisters, that mostly does battle with the stepmother, it's Su-yeon who seems to suffer the most at her hands. Meanwhile, the girl's father seems uninterested in brokering a ceasefire between the two sides. When strange things begin to hapopen around the house, events quickly boil over and the situation comes to a head.

"A Tale of Two Sisters" is everything you could possibly want in psyhological thriller/horror movie. It's smart, surprising, scary at times, exceptionally well crafted and technically sound as well. The denouement may be far fetched and the twists, while jaw dropping, are pretty extreme but what's important is that the whole thing works. There are no gaping plot holes or far fetched explanations needed to explain the film's twists and it's the type of movie that, with a few repeat viewings, you can figure out fully on your own. I always appreciate a film that is complex enough to keep you on your toes and make you think but doesn't need to be disected for years on end on IMDB's message boards before anyone has a clue what it was about.
"A Tale of Two Sister's" strikes a perfect balance between accesibility and artistic daring which was demonstrated quite emphatically by the film's huge success both at the domestic box office in Korea and the almost universal praise it garnered from critics. Kim ji woon has since established himself as one of the foremost director's in the world at crafting critically acclaimed blockbusters. He's sort of the Christopher Nolan of the East, in a way. Maybe we can get him to direct a chapter of the "Batman" series when Nolan decides to retire.

Frozen Flower

2010-07-11T20:20:00.003-07:00

B-

Directed by Yu Ha

Director Yu Ha (great name!) tries his hand at the costume drama with "A Frozen Flower" an entertaining if not groundbreaking tale of illicit love during the Goryeo dynasty.

Hong-rim, a valiant, dashing warrior, leads the king of Goryeo Korea's personal guard. He is also involved in an illicit affair with the royal highness, a fact that seems to be common knowledge to the king's inner circle, Hong-rim's fellow guards and even the queen. When the queen begins to pressure the king to provide them a heir, something he says is impossoble for him to do, he dispatches Hong-rim to bed the Queen and conceive a child. Hong-rim quickly begins to develop feelings for the Queen, however, and a love triangle soon develops.

Overall, Yu Ha's film is a satisfying and oftentimes quite riveting period piece that is heavy on the melodrama, just the way it should be. It doesn't do anything groundbreaking (aside from its rather overt eroticism which went quite a bit further than most viewers were probably expecting) and it mostly foillows the "drama in the castle" playbook of costume dramas. The acting tends to be a bit over the top at times, especially in the case of the male leads, but their excesses are somewhat blunted by the restrained and arresting performance of Song ji hyo who is mostly known for her work in television.
One of the biggest probelms with "A Frozen Flower" is that it's competing in an already saturated market, (the "Korean Goryeo/Joseun period piece" market to be precise) so several similar yet far better films are readily available for comparison. This also extends to the film's artistic direction which, although quite good, pales in comparison to films like "Chihwaseon", "Shadows in the Palace", or "Portrait of a Beauty". The point here is that if you're going to makee a Korean costume drama, you better pull out all the stops because the bar is already quite high.The varaible nature of Hong Lim's sexuality is also an area of concern to me and likely many others who viewed "A Frozen Flower" insofar as his attraction to the king is easily broken after a few forced encounters with the Queens who he quickly becomes infatuated with. There's always the possibility that Hong Lim was simply using his charms to move into the king's inner circle but the tone of the film doesn't really suggest that as a possible motive for Hong Lim's actions. As such, were left with the rather confusing suggestion that Hong Lim's love for the king was broken rather effortlessly by the charms of the queen. I'm not sure how gay viewers will react to the message but I doubt the reaction will be overly positive...

The Message

2010-07-10T22:44:00.005-07:00

B

Directed by Gao Qunshu

Director Gao Qunshu's political thriller "The Message" is a taut, suspenseful film that boasts a strong premise that it nevertheless fails to live up to over the course of its rather drawn out running time.

Following a series of political assasinations aimed at the occupying Japanese army during the Sino-Japanese war, a group of Chinese intelligence officers working for the puppet regime are brought to a secluded mansion by the Japanese spy chief who suspects one of them of being a turncoat. A ruthless series of interogations follows as the Japanese try to smoke out the mole.

Despite its lengthy running time, "The Message" succeeded in holding my attention for its duration mand the film is inbfused with a suspense that makes it difficult to pull yourself away for the occasional bathroom break for fear of missing something. That said, Gao's film suffers from the same curse as many film's that boast seemingly ingenious plot devices, namely that it doesn't satisfactorily fulfill its own potential. With a premise like the one offered up by "The Message" there's an endless amount of possibilities for betrayal, surprise alliances, twists, and oif course massive amounts of suspense and tension that when something awesome doesn't materialize at ever juncture of the film, you can't help but feel like the director missed an opportunity. It's an impossibly high standard to hold a film to but as I said, a strong premise can often raise viewers expectations to unrealistically elevated heights.
From a visual standpoint, Gao's film is gorgeous, marrying an obvious attention to faitfully reproducing period detail with a dark and shadowy cinematography that perfectly captures the film's foreboding mood. The film's art direction reminded me a great deal of Ang Lee's "Lust Caution" and like the later film "The Message" is notable (in my opinion at least) more for its striking images than its content.

Secret Reunion

2010-07-10T22:44:00.001-07:00

B-

Directed by Hun Jang

The talented Song Kang Ho stars alongside Kang Dong Won in Hun Jang's "Secret Reunion", an unlikely buddy movie between a North Korean spy and a South Korean intelligence agent.

Song plays Lee Han-gyu, an intense intelligence officer who is fired after his attempt at bringing in Song Ji Won and his fellow North Korean assassin turns into a bloodbath. The story picks up six years later with Lee still out of the police force, running a business that tracks down runaway mailorder brides and brings them back to the Korean husbands. While on the job, Lee fortuitously runs into Song Ji Won who, unable to return home, is working at a mine. Lee, believing Song does not recognize him, recruits him to his agency and begins his own investigation of Song.

"Secret Reunion's" premise isn't exactly groundbreaking but where Jang goes with it after the basics of the plot have been set up is quite interesting. What at first appears to be a spy vs. spy poitboiler turns into a buddy movie that plays up the chemistry (platonic, of course) of leads Song and Kang. I thought Jang's decision to depart from the heaviness of the politically charged subject matter and go a different route altogether was a welcome change and it certainly played well to the audience at the showing we attended.
As fun as it is in places, howeber, "Secret Reunion" never really succeeds in getting off the ground and oftentimes feels disjointed. Jang has difficulty keeping all of his narrative balls in the air at once and the various major plotlines don't always entertwine as they should. The film is also a bit lenghty and could have used a fair bit of editing.
I'd like to take a minute here to talk about the Round Faced One, Song Kang Ho himself. I truly think that Song is one of the most exciting actors working in Asia at the moment and he's one of only a handful of actors who I will pay to watch in any movie, no matter how potentially crappy. Song is better than anyone at playing roles that demand both comic timing and serious acting chops at the same time, as evidenced by his star turns in "The Host" and "Memories of Murder". Song's particular brand of physical acting is also noteworthy and, I would argue, underappreciated. A fight scene featuring Song is always an event in and of itself. It never features clean punches or kicks and often ends up with Song receiving as much abuse as he dishes out. It's always a lot of fun to watch but it takes a certain amount of skill to make what are eseentially scripted battles look so madcap. I should probably stop fawning over the guy but he's a joy to watch and he has the ability to turn even mediocre films like "Secret Reunion" into entertaining fare.

Ip Man 2

2010-07-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

B-

Directed by Wilson Yip

Donnie Yen is back as legendary wing chun master Ip Man in "Ip Man 2: Ip Man is Broke". OK, that's not the real title of the movie but I still think it's better than simply "Ip Man 2". Wilson Yip's latest intallment of the "Ip Man" franchise is, like its predecessor, an exciting ride that nonetheless suffers from a thin script and nonexistent character development.

Having escaped mainland China, Ip Man settles in Hong Kong with his son and wife who is expecting a second child. Ip Man tries to open a martial arts school but has little success in recruiting new students, leading to dire financial straits for the family. On top of that, the local masters won't let him open a school without first proving his worth and then paying onerous membership dues. Menwhile, the local British police chief is setting up a East meets West boxing gala where, you guessed it, Ip Man will be forced, despite his inate pacifism, to step into the ring.

"Ip Man 2" follows, almost to a tee, the plot of the first "Ip Man". Ip Man tries to set up a martials arts club, fights some other local masters, then gets embroilled in a staged fight featuring a "foreign devil" (this time English rather than Japanese). The paper thin plot is not that big of a deal since "Ip Man 2" is concerned solely with delivering the goods when it comes to fights scenes and in this regard, Yip's film is as solid as the first installment of "Ip Man". Once again, Donnie Yen's skills are on impressive display and many of the fight scenes are fantastic, in particular Ip Man's faceoff against Hong Kong's other masters in a fight that takes place entirely on a small round table at the center of a room. On the other hand, the "villain" in this installment of "Ip Man", the nefarious "Twister", while being a hilariously over the top character you might expect to find in WWE RAW, is not much of a fighter which robs the film's closing scenes of some "punch" so to speak. Furthermore, the character development in "Ip Man 2" is even less convincing then in "Ip Man" which means it's pretty much nonexistent. I fully realize that martial arts films aren't there to provide in depth, nuanced character sketches but the slipshod way Yip treats many of his characters, most notably Simon Yam's (who is totally wasted in this movie), was unimpressive.

Fantasia 2010 is here!

2010-07-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Fantasia is back with a full slate of movies from around the globe. I will be watching a number of the films presented as a part of the festival and will be reporting back as I see them (hopefully promptly but I wouldn't get your hopes up if I were you...)
Tonight: "Ip Man 2"! Hopefully it will be as much fun as the first "Ip Man" but this time without the not so vague anti-Japanese undertones...

Monsoon Wedding

2010-07-08T06:42:00.000-07:00

B+

Directed by Mira Nair

Mira Nair's much beloeved "Monsoon Wedding" is an intelligent and lovely meditation on family that is both understated and at times joyfully melodramatic, thankfully situating it closer to "After the Wedding" than "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" in the annals of films with "Wedding" in their title.

Aditi's wedding is only a few days away and her father is rushing to get everything ready. Family members are coming in from all over the world and her groom, who she barely knows, is arriving from Houston. Unbeknownst to almost everyone, Aditi is having an affair with a married television host and is only planning on marrying because she doesn't believe her boyfriend will ever leave his wife for her. This is only the tip of the drama iceberg as a number of other secrets are slowly revealed before the wedding.

At its best "Monsoon Wedding" reminded me a great deal of some of Almodovar's more melodramatic fare in its interwoven universe of characters hiding secrets, repressing simmering passions, and living drama filled lives. Like a good Almodovar movie, the intrigue in Nair's film unfolds slowly, adding elements of suspense to everyday situations that, although not always believable, are nevertheless intriguing and make for juicy plotlines. Nair should also be commended for mixing in some rather controversial issues into the expected mix of generational clashes and cultural misunderstandings that dominate "Monsoon Wedding".
From a visual standpoint "Monsoon Wedding" is truly sumptuous which, for a character driven family drama, is quite a feat. Nair's cinematographer (whose name I am of course to lazy to look up) does a truly wonderful job of framing shots and brings the sumptuous colors of Nair's film to life.
Despite all its strong points, "Monsoon Wedding" ultimately suffers the same fate as most others feature length films which try to incoroporate a large number of characters, namely that most characters remain semi-three dimensional and several plotlines are wrapped up quickly or not at all. The film's final scenes are particularly disappointing in this regard as several storylines which had until then developed at a leisurely pace are quickly tied up, not always in a believable manner. I have always believed that the time and the place to introduce more than 10 "main characters" in a movie is never since there is just no way you can properly develop so many characters in the span of 90-120 minutes. Such ambitions are usually best left for television, in my (admittedly amateur) opinion.

Linda, Linda, Linda

2010-07-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

B+

Directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita

Nobuhiro Yamashita's "Linda, Linda, Linda" is a wonderful movie, a tender and sympathetic essay on adolescent angst that exudes intelligence, wit, and charm in spades.

High school students Kei, Kyoko, and Nozumi are preparing to perform a trio of rock songs at their high school's cultural festival but are forced to look for a replacement when their vocalist unexpectedly quits. They quickly press gang an exchange student from Korea (Bae Doona!) into the band and frantically try to get ready for their gig which is in only a few days away.

Films focusing on teens tend too often to paint either an extreme vision of adolescence as either the zenith of an individual's existence or conversely a bleak and miserable hell that teens should feel lucky to escape. "Linda, Linda, Linda" doesn't exactly cut down the middle in this respect since the girl's high school seems to be full of genuinely kind students and teachers but it does offer a more realistic view of adolescence by showing that the highs and the lows experienced by the group are neither dizzyingly high (no one becomes prom queen or scores a winning touchdown in the state (prefecture?) finals) or agonizingly low (no bullying, assaults, or rape à la "All About Lily Choo Choo"). It's a refreshingly nuanced and authentic take on the high school experience and "Linda, Linda, Linda" succeeds in having a real emotional impact without being cloying, manipulative, or farfetched. Nobuhiro Yamashita'a films has been compared repeatedly with those of John Hughes for the comparable way both directors treat their young character's trials and tribulations and the similarity between the two directors is indeed striking. Like Hughes, Nobuhiro Yamashita treats his characters seriously and sympathetically by giving an appropriate significance to their victories and setbacks no matter how insignificant they may appear to be to jaded viewers like myself.

The young cast put together for "Linda, Linda, Linda" is truly top notch with the characters providing subdued, believable performances. Bae Doona is especially good as the school's spacy Korean exchange student.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird

2010-06-27T19:11:00.001-07:00

A-

Directed by Kim Ji Woon

Part spaghetti western, part "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" defies expectations and is a surprising and utterly exhilirating moviegoing experience, the likes of which are unfortunately quite rare these days.

Kim's film follows the intertwined adventures of bounty hunter (The Good), hired gun (The Bad), and a hapless yet unkillable train robber (The Weird) in pre World War II Machuria. After the train robber (played by the awesome Song Kang Ho) recovers a treasure map in a train heist gone terribly wrong, he sets off a race for the map between the hired gun, the bounty hunter, and a number of other rivaling factions. As the map changes hands and more and more people get waxed trying to recover it, doubts begin to surface about the existence of a treasure.

As madcap and brainless as "The Good, the Bad, and the Weird" may be, constructing such a fast paced and utterly unhinged epic takes a great deal of skill considering how rare it is for this type of film to succeed. In this respect, the quality of Kim's direction should be lauded as much as the film's technical savy which is, admittedly, vastly superior to most of what you find in the action genre these days. The scale of the action in "The Good, the Bad, and the Weird" is also enough to make any action aficianado giddy with delight. The film's opening act, an over the top train heist gone wrong, would be a heck of a closing sequence for 99% of action films, yet it pales in comparison to a number of the set pieces that follow, including the truly awesome third act which features Song Kang Ho's character being chased through the desert by two rival gangs on horseback who are in turn being chased by a regiment of Japanese soldiers. It's on a scale that brings back memories of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and other epics of the Hollywood golden years and it makes for an exhilirating, jaw dropping rush that is well worth the price of admission.

The Rules of the Game

2010-03-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

Directed by Jean Renoir

Jean Renoir's classic "The Rules of the Game" is one of the sacred cows of world cinema, considered by many to be the greatest French film ever made. Unsurprisingly, it lives up to the hype.

Renoir's film begins with the succesful completion of flying ace André Jurieux's attempt at breaking the speed record for a non-stop, transatlantic flight. When he arrives back in France, however, he is crestfallen to discover that Christine de La Chesnaye, an Austrian woman married to the rich and vapid aristocrat Robert de La Chesnaye, who he is hopelessly infatuated with, is not there to meet him. In hopes of placating the now suicidalJurieux, Christine invites him to her husband's weekend getaway for a hunt with their circle of friends. Once everyone arrives, social customs begin to quickly unravel as the hunt turns into an epic Vaudeville marked by unrequited love, doomed affairs, and passionate hook-ups.

Although it isn't my favorite film, and isn't even one of my favorite films by Renoir, there's absolutely no denying that "The Rules of the Game" is one of a handful of uncontested masterpieces of film, right up there with "Seven Samurai" and "Citizen Kane." Renoir's film is both a landmark achievement in film technique, featuring some of the most famous and admired scenes in film history, as well as in storytelling and satire. Renoir's film, which seems fairly tame to the modern viewer, was the height of controversy uponm its release in 1939 and was roundly banned, booed, and decried as a slap in the face to the French bourgeoisie which, of course, it was. The insults lobbed at the the french upper middle class weren't accidental either, as Renoir relentlessly skewers his character's empty and superficial lives. As Europe began to crumble under Hitler's bootheel, Renoir's characters retreat to the country where they abandon themselves fully to their shared passion, running after one another with reckless passion. Renoir, in an introduction to the Criterion Collection's release of "The Rules of the Game" recalls attending a showing of the film where a man lit a newspaper on fire with, according to the filmmaker, the obvious intent of burning down the theater. Renoir's film was, to say the least, incendiary but it did so without being cheap or facile. Rather, as the great Pietro Germi did with Sicilian society, Renoir simply held up a mirror to the French upper classes and told them to take a look. Suffice it to say, the didn't like what they saw.

In Bruges

2010-03-27T17:24:00.001-07:00

Directed by Martin McDonagh

Martin McDonagh's "In Bruges" takes an interesting premise and talented actors and crafts an overly stylized, talky and for the most part annoying gangster flick.

Irish thugs Ray and Ken are sent to Bruges, Belgium to hide out after Ray accidentally kills a young boy when carrying out a hit for their boss Harry. While in Bruges, Ken decides to sightsee and Ray tries not to lose his mind from boredom. Harry's reasons for sending them to Bruges are soon enough revealed to Ken who is ordered to kill Ray for his transgression.

What could have been an interesting rumination on loyalty, friendship, and guilt is rather turned into a superficial showoff piece for writer/director McDonagh. "In Bruges" strikes me as the type of film that lovers of the horrible "Boondock Saints" probably fawn over. The majority of the scenes in McDonagh's revolve around characters exchanging faux-witty, absurdist dialogue full of pitch black humour in thick Irish accents. The problem is that the dialogue for the most part comes off as awkward, stilted and, most importantly, totally unbelievable while the humour, instead of being dark, is just immature and tasteless. I seriously don't understand who thinks this type of over the top scriptwriting is exciting, edgy, or interesting when done so poorly. To top it all off, what could have been a strong final scene is ruined by some more of McDonagh's prefab dialogue and a telegraphed ending.

"In Bruges" is saved from a total collapse by strong performances from Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes and, yes, even Colin Farrell who does well with the material given to him, giving a taught and energetic performance as Ray.

Happy Funeral

2010-03-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Directed by Barbara Wong

Barbara Wong's sequel to the inexplicably successful "Truth or Dare - 6th Floor Rear Flat", which followed the highs and the lows of a group of young adults sharing a dilapidated flat in Hong Kong, is a pretty terrible follow up to a film that probably should have never been given a sequel in the first place.

As "Happy Funeral" opens, we find a new batch of youths living in the 6th floor rear flat. Like their predecessors, only a few of them have jobs, and most of their time seems to be dedicated to partying, flirting with one another and hatching half baked business plans. After attending the dour funeral of one of the housemate's boyfriend's grandmother, the gang decides that what the world really needs is a service that will celebrate rather than mourn the lives of those who have passed. Thus, the idea for a new, highly profitable business is born-- the "Funeral Party". Suffice it to say, it's a terrible idea.

I love movies and I get personally offended when people claim that watching them is a waste of time, time that could be, according to them, better spent doing something more productive. This haughty belief is usually harbored by grouches who presuppose that doing something enjoyable means it's necessarily frivolous and that we all have productive things we could be doing at all times of the day which certainly isn't the case for me. In the case of "Happy Funeral", however, it truly was a total waste of my time. And my time is really not that valuable, either. Director Barbara Wong seems to have had no game plan whatsoever when setting out to make this film and it certainly shows. It's messy, poorly acted, poorly scripted (if a script was provided at all, which seems doubtful) and full of annoying characters who are impossible to sympathize or connect with. Wong's film doesn't even hint at a serious plot until it's 3/4ths of the way through and by that time I was so thoroughly annoyed with "Happy Funeral", I just wanted it to end.

I guess there's a kernel of intelligent social commentary in here somewhere about the slacker attitude of Generation Y and its chronic refusal to grow up but it gets lost in "Happy Funerals" in your face, high pitched brand of comedy.

Protegé

2010-03-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

Directed by Derek Yee

Director Derek Yee takes a sobering look at drugs in "Protegé", crafting a surprisingly sensitive and thoughtful portrayal of the many destructive consequences of the narcotics trade.

Daniel Wu stars as Nick, a mole working undercover for the Hong Kong police, tasked with infiltrating a heroin trafficking ring headed by kingpin Quin (Andy Lau). Nick has been undercover so long, however, that Quin considers him practically his own son and, despite being commited to his original mission, Nick becomes gradually more entangled with Quin and his family as his time undercover drags on. When he begins a tentative relationship with a drug addicted neighbour named Fan, however, Nick finds his interest in dismantling Quin's drug empire suddenly and powerfully renewed.

"Protegé" eschews easy "drugs are bad" soapboxing to show the malevolence of the drug trade and the consequences to all those involved, both on the supply side and the demand side. Although "Protegé" isn't always a completely three dimensional or believable essay on junkies and those who make their habit possible, it's affecting nonetheless and unvarnished in a way that neither demonizes nor excuses the actions of drug users, demonstrating that even though substance abusers can kick their habit and turn their life around, it's not that easy to do. I think all effective films dealing with drug use are ones that can toe this line and show drug addiction for what it really is--not necessarily a death sentence but still incredibly powerful, life altering, and difficult to get rid of.

Yee should also be commended for using "Protegé" to showcase some of Hong Kong's best known acting talent in surprising and unconventional roles. Louis Koo, who most viewers may remember as the suave and intelligent gangster Jimmy in Johnny To's "Election" series, goes in a totally different direction here, starring as Fan's junkie, morally crapulent ex-husband. Andy Lau is also given a role that differs from his usual fare as a hunky cop/gangster/action hero, and is surprisingly believable as the aging criminal Quin.

One Nite in Mongkok

2010-03-10T17:36:00.000-08:00

B+

Directed by Derek Yee

Derek Yee's "One Nite in Mongkok" is a satisfying and exciting romp through one of Hong Kong's less glamourous neighborhoods as well as a showcase for Yee's considerable talents as a director of intelligent, emotionally resonant action films.

A gang boss in Hong Kong's seedy Mongkok district orders a hit on a rival after the latter's son killed his own son following a bar room brawl. Not finding anyone in HK to do the dirty deed, the boss calls in Lai Fu, a hitman from mainland China. When Lai Fu arrives in HK, he is immediately double crossed by his handler (played by HK regular Lam Suet) who finds himself in hot water with local authorities. To add to his mounting troubles, Lai Fu finds himself unwantingly attached at the hip with a prostitute he accidently saves from a rough trick (I always wanted to use that term in a write-up). As Lai Fu's planned hit becomes more and more bogged down in unforeseen setbacks, the local authorities are hot on his tail trying desperately to nab the assassin before time runs out.

ONIM, without trying to intellectualize the Hong Kong action flick, does infuse the genre with a significant amount of emotional gravitas by putting character development on equal footing with the development of its plot. In this respect, ONIM reminded me of Wong Kar Wai's "Fallen Angels", an action film where the action, instead of being the film's raison d'être, often plays second fiddle to developping three dimensional characters. ONIM also features surprisingly astute commentary on the tensions created by the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China. The societal upheavals created by the massive movements of China's rural poor from farm to city, which has created a whole new class of destitute urban poor throughout the mainland and Hong Kong, is an often overlooked byproduct of China's rapid industrialization. It's to Yee's credit that he tackles the issue in an intelligent and sympathetic manner.

The only gripes I have with Yee's film are the length, which could ahve been shorter, and the acting which, although never bad, didn't enhance the film much either. Cheung in particular tended towards skreekniness in many of her scenes but her performance, although lacking nuance, wasn't so bad that it kept me from enjoying the rest of the film.

The Hangover

2010-02-22T15:39:00.000-08:00

B-

Directed by Todd Phillips

Todd Phillips' "The Hangover" was, without a doubt, the most succesful comedy of 2009 and can likely be called one of the most succesful of its entire genre, a movie subtype I'd refer to as frat or bro comedies, two terms that have likely already been coined and copyrighted (Please don't sue me!). Not only did pretty much every person between the ages of 15 and 35 see "The Hangover," it also garnered significant critical praise and, somewhat unexpectedly, won this year's Golden Globe for best comedy or musical. Although not a bad film, I didn't find myself as enthralled by Phillips morning after saga as I thought I would be.

Two groomsmen head off to Vegas with their soon to be married buddy and his eccentric, socially awkward brother for a night of carousing and mayhem. We only see the very beginning of the night's events before cutting immediately to the morning after where we find the two groomsmen and and the groom's brother waking up in their trashed hotel suite with no idea what happened the previous night. Worse still, they've lost the groom a day before his wedding. The three buddies set off to locate the whereabouts of their buddy and, perhaps more importantly, find out what the heck happened to them the previous night.

"The Hangover" has plenty of amusing bits and running gags, as well as one truly excellent cameo, that make the whole thing a pleasantly raucous if not completely groundbreaking experience. I rarely expect much more than a few hearty laughs from this type of fare but the critical praise for Phillips' film made me cautiously optimistic that this would be a comedic gem which, I'm sure you've already gathered by my tone, I don't think it is. Sure, it's often quite funny but it lapses into juvenile or facile humor too often and allows a few plainly unfunny bits to dampen the effect of its better parts. This isn't to say that it's completely low brow comedy, however. "The Hangover" is fairly well written, well acted, and for the most part stays away from fart and poop jokes that often populate comedies who are trying to appeal to the basest comedic tastes of filmgoers. Nevertheless I can't say that I understand the critical praise heaped on Philips' film since it isn't entirely succesful, in my humble and, albeit, sometimes grouchy opinion, in being what films like "The Hangover" are supposed to be -- undeniably and unfaillingly funny. This doesn't mean I expected "The Hangover" to have me laughing so hard my sides hurt and my eyes watered but I didn't expect to go through large chunks of the film without so much as a grin, which I did a few times at least.

A review of a film like "The Hangover," either positive or negative, is, easily called into question since what constitutes "funny" varies widely from one viewer to the next. Based on the critical reception "The Hangover" enjoyed, as well as its box office success, maybe I'm just one of the few who has a poor sense of humor and needs to lighten up. Those who know me may indeed feel this is the case. However, I think one's opinion of a film like "The Hangover" will always, in the end, be heavily dependent on personal taste since its a film that stakes its entire success on making its audience laugh. It's therefore unsurprising that some will laugh more than others.

Happy Go Lucky

2010-02-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

Directed my Mike Leigh

British director Mike Leigh's latest semi-improvised comedy is an unpretentious and utterly enjoyable little film that is elevated far above its light subject matter but absolutely splendid performances by Sallie Hawkins and support actor Eddie Marsan.

Poppy (Sallie Hawkins) is a thirty year old primary school teacher who lives in a shared flat with her best friend Zoe. Bubbly, carefree, and utterly unfazed by other's expectations for her, she's a breath of fresh air in an otherwise drab world. Poppy's blissful existence is interrupted by a particularly difficult and grumpy driving instructor (Eddie Marsan) who momentarily snaps Poppy back to the reality that the world isn't necessarily filled with others who, like her, skate through life with a smile and a wink.

Although Leigh's film isn't the deepest or most perceptive film he's ever made, it's still a joy to watch mostly, as already mentioned, due to the strong performances of Leigh's cast. Mike Leigh's semi-improvised efforts often depend, not surprisingly, on the excellence of his actors. In the case of "Happy Go Lucky" Leigh gets the most out of his cast, especially from Hawkins and the always excellent Eddie Marsan. Marsan, a career support player, is the type of actor who is so underrated he's almost overrated, sort of like John C. Reily before he started taking lead roles. Marsan truly is excellent, however, as Poppy's neurotic and troubled driving instructor, suffusing his scenes with Hawkins with a an often hilarious but always nervous and off kilter energy that seems to always be on the verge of leading to an ugly denouement which, in the end, it does. As good as Marsan is, it's Hawkins who steals the show and her performance as Poppy was perhaps the most widely heralded effort of 2008, so much so that she was awarded the Golden Globe for best female lead over Meryl Streep (who, despite a vastly inferior performance in "Mama Mia!" was probably expecting to win the award because, well, she's Meryl Streep). Hawkin's makes Poppy interesting and, most importantly, plausible despite all her quirks, an achievement that shouldn't be underestimated. I would venture to guess that it was a far more difficult task for Hawkins to play Poppy than it was for Kate Winslet, who won a Golden Globe for best performance in a drama the same year Hawkins won hers for her performance in "Happy-Go-Lucky", to play April Wheeler in the overwrought "Revolutionary Road." Nothing against Winslet, of course, who is a fine actress, but giving a character like Poppy who is shamelessly bubbly, good natured, free willed and wants to make everyone around her as happy as she is, the depth that she does is remarkable.

I rarely recommend films solely for the performances of its actors but I certainly have no reservations recommending "Happy-Go-Lucky" solely for the performances of Hawkins and Marsan.

Family

2010-02-13T11:55:00.000-08:00

D-

Directed by Takashi Miike

Prolific Japanese master of shock Takashi Miike's "Family," based on a manga I've admittedly never read (or heard of), is a woefully bad effort from an otherwise talented director.

Koichi Iwaki is the godfather of a Japanese Yakuza faction whose members keep getting whacked, kidnapped, and generally abused by rival gangs, leading to Iwaki finally putting his foot down and going out to get some revenge. That's the gist of the film right there and going into any added depth is really unecessary. You may think my attitude towards this review is flippant (it is) but wait until you see the film yourself before judging my apathy towards it (SO THERE!!!).

This is Miike at his worst. The "Family" may not be as gratuitously violent or plainly ugly in its content as other Miike films like "Ichi the Killer" or "Visitor Q" but at least those two movies were thought provoking (if a bit over the top). "Family" is a bore, a poorly made, B-rate piece of action shlock that shows off all of Miike's worst filmmaking excesses. The plot is only vaguely coherent and the whole thing looks like it was filmed on a camcorder with vaseline slathered over the lense. Miike has always been a prolific filmmaker which means his output has sometimes been more about quantity than quality. Indeed, for every "Audition" there have been scores of weaker releases and "Family" is certainly falls into the latter category. Amazingly (to me, at least) "Family" is one of Miike's better known works outside of Japan which I find truly baffling.

King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

2010-01-28T16:02:00.001-08:00

A-

Directed by Seth Gordon

Who knew competitive arcade gaming could be so completely engrossing? Documentarian Seth Gordon takes what is, to say the least, a marginal subject and turns it into a nail-biting, maddening, oftentimes hilarious and ultimately uplifting piece of filmmaking.

Billy Mitchell, an egotistical, mulleted superstar of the gaming world, had held the record for the highest score on "Donkey Kong" since 1982, an almost mythical record that some felt would never be broken. When everyman high school teacher Steve Wiebe suddenly breaks Mitchell's record seemingly out of nowhere, he sets off a maelstrom of controversy in the tiny, incestuous world of competitive arcade gaming.

As "Spellbound" did for the spelling bee, "King of Kong" will (maybe?) do for competitive gaming, pulling millions of viewers who, until now, had no clue such a thing even existed into its world. Gordon's documentary is utterly engrossing from start to finish, a David vs. Goliath tale of an outsider coming in and trying to knock off the unquestioned king of gamers. Gordon's film is most notable in how it clearly pits mild mannered and all around good guy Wiebe against the unbelievably self absorbed and risible Mitchell. The Wiebe vs. Mitchell showdown makes Larry vs. Magic look like boring crap, frankly. No, I'm not kidding.

Gordon's choice to so clearly cast Wiebe as the good guy and Mitchell as the bad guy does, however, beg an important question; Should documentary filmmakers feel the need to give their subjects a fair shake even if they don't deserve it? Billy Mitchell in no way is shown by Gordon as having any redeemable characteristics beyond his success as a businessman and as a competitive gamer. He's shown as being self absorbed, mean spirited, and generally as not being a man of any integrity. In interviews Gordon has stated that Mitchell is actually far worse than he is shown in "King of Kong," and that he (Gordon) actually gave him a fairer shake than he probably deserved. I think documentary filmmakers tend to often be obsessed with presenting both sides of a story and refraining from typecasting characters as either good or bad. The nuance, in most cases, is needed as so few things worth documenting and investigating further can be as easily classified as good or bad. However, if you run across a guy like Steve Wiebe who, based on all accounts, is a stand up guy, and then you come across a guy like Billy Mitchell who, again by most accounts, is a horrible person, is it not responsible to present them as such? Sure, Gordon overdoes it a bit, showing Wiebe at one point taking time off from his busy gaming schedule to frolic in the ocean with his wife and kids while soft music plays in the background. I still can't fault Gordon, however, for showing us how he saw it. That's what a documentarian is supposed to do, after all.

Avatar

2010-01-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

B+

Directed by James Cameron

Sometimes on this blog, I tend to review rather obscure (sometimes because they're not very good, but often because they're just really, uh…foreign). "Avatar," suffice it to say, is not one of those movies. James Cameron's massively expensive, massively succesful sci-fi adventure has already been watched by basically everyone in North America and it will likely end up breaking every box office record ever set (without adjusting for inflation, of course. I see you, "Gone with the Wind!") After finally getting with the program and going to see it in 3D last night, I can see why this jaw-dropping, eye popping spectacle will continue to rake in the cash for months, even years, to come.

Sam Worthington plays a paraplegic ex-marine (somewhat unconvincingly, I must say...) named Jake Sully who takes over his deceased brother's place in a scientific program on a distant planet called Pandora. The program aims to help Sully and others infiltrate the local indegenous population, a race of semi-giant, vauely human bluish creatures through the help of avatars, or bodies that resemble those of the natives but are controlled remotely by humans. At the same time, the multinational corporation that is mining Pandora's rich energy reserves plans to use Sully as a pawn in it's efforts to drive the natives from their land.

"Avatar" cost over $300 million to produce and it certainly looks like a film that cost that much to make. The graphics…are…awesome. This can't be stressed enough. They're awesome. I watched "Avatar" in 3D because the IMAX showing was booked soild and even in 3D, without the wraparound IMAX screen and the 45 degree angled seating, the film was still a physical experience leaving me clutching by seat a few times as I followed Jake as he darted across tree branches and ahng off of cliffs hundreds of feet in the air. I can only imagine how much better the experience would have been on IMAX which makes me particularly bummed that it was sold out. Nevertheless, the visual spectacle of "Avatar" remains potent no matter how you watch it because the animation is just that good.

The other aspects of "Avatar" are a bit disappointing, to be sure. The dialogue is woefully bad at some points and the film's environmental message is hamfisted on all fronts. I laud filmmakers who find intelligent or engaging ways to grapple with the planet's continued over reliance on fossil fuels,deforestation, and our general willingness to continue treating nature like it will spontaneously regrow after completely ravaged it but a little bit of nuance would have certainly helped "Avatar" gets its message across with a bit more credibility. The underlying message is certainly worthwhile, but I don't know if audiences need to be reminded for three hours how badly we've managed the ressources of our planet.

Nevertheless, harping on a film like "Avatar" for anything other than its visual appeal is missing the point completely since everything else in "Avatar" is simply there to butress its visual brilliance. As blockbusters go, this one is certainly worth watching and on the biggest screen you can see it on at that.

Man on Fire

2010-01-20T17:07:00.001-08:00

D-

Directed by Tony Scott

Tony Scott's "Man on Fire" completely wastes the talents of two of American film's greatest actors, Denzel Washington and Christopher Walken, in an unbelievably lazy action films that manages to be offensive, boring, and laughable, all at the same time.

Washington plays boduguard Creasy, a down on his luck alcoholic who, seeking an outlet to his violent impulses, takes a job as the private protector of a wealthy couple and their daughter in Mexico City. When the daughter is kidnapped, Creasy vows to mete out biblical vengeance on her captors.

This film is, in all aspect, a miss. It's poorly shot, poorly edited, poorly acted by its secondary actors, and most of all extremely poorly scripted. This is a film that likely could have worked fairly easily, seeing as how the premise is simple enough and the producers somehow got Denzel Washington to sign on. Rather than letting the formula play out to its logical conclusion, namely a solid but undistinguished revenge flick, director Scott tries to get fancy and fashion in avant-garde, gritty, crime flick with socio-political undertones. It all falls miserably flat, of course, but there's plenty of blame to go around when a film is this bad. In the case of "Man on Fire," as already mentioned, Washington gets little help from his supporting actors (though Dakota Fanning, despite being miscast, is solid in her role) and the production values of the film are pathetically low for a film with such a significant budget. There's also nothing worse than watching clueless big studio film people try to fashion a political salient film, which this film tries doggedly to be without much success.

The Departed

2010-01-16T20:27:00.001-08:00

B+

Directed by Martin Scorcese

Martin Scorcese's Oscar winning remake of the Hong Kong classic "Infernal Affairs" is a great example of how a remake, in the right hands, can be exciting, different, and almost equally groundbreaking as its predecessor.

Matt Damon stars as Colin Sullivan, a protégé of Boston crime boss Frank Costello who joins the Boston Police Department and quickly rises through the ranks while working as a mole for Costello. Unbeknownst to him, fellow officer Billy Costigan has been tasked by Sullivan's bosses with infiltrating Costello's organization and acting as their man on the inside. Both moles begin to suspect that the side they are working for has been infiltrated, leading to a cat and mouse chase between the two men as they attempt to root each other out.

Although "The Departed" is a great effort from Scorcese, it's not "Raging Bull" or "Goodfellas" and his Oscar victory was likely more of a lifetime achievement award than anything else. That said, Scorcese's interpretation of "Infernal Affairs" is very well done and he respectfully and accurately pays homage to the source material while still making "The Departed" his own creation. Where a lesser director probably would have just copped out on settled for a lazy copy of the original, Scorcese strays rather far from the source and truly remakes "The Departed" into something that resembles "Infernal Affairs" little aside from the basic premise of moles infiltrated in opposing camps. That said, any remake, no matter how little it resembles the original, will be compared to its predecessor and when holding up "The Departed" to "Infernal Affairs" the latter film is far, far better at playing the moles off each other and building suspense by bringing them oh-so close to discovering the other's identity as the film progresses. "The Departed" takes a while to really start building the same type of suspense and by the end of the film, when the two moles finally face-off, you feel like they've been thrust together as opposed to having rooted each other out.

Where "the Departed" may not live up to "Infernal Affairs" in regard to its narrative, it certainly gives away nothing to the original in its sleek production values and reliance on top flight actors. Matt Damon and Leo DiCaprio, once maligned as vapid pretty boys with limited acting chops, have over the years proven themselves as capable leading men and both are fantastic in their roles here. Multiple supporting spots by other big names such as Alec Baldwin, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Whalberg give "the Departed" the star studded treatment that "Infernal Affairs" also boasted (albeit with Hong Kong actors). Scorcese directing is, as always, slick and gritty and bursting with energy.

Unlike some, I don't immediately whine and moan when I hear that Hollywood is planning on remaking an Asian action or horror flick. "The Departed" is a perfect example of how a talented director and cast can remake a movie into something different and exciting while at the same time introducing large numbers of casual filmgoers to the original source material. Too bad so many remakes are shameless money grabs directed by C-list directors and hack actors...

Science of Sleep

2010-01-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

Directed by Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep" showcases both the director's original aesthetic but also his utter inability to make anything resembling a coherent film when left to his own devices.

Stephane, a graphic artist from Mexico, is lured to Paris by his estranged mother by the promise of a job in a design firm. He finds out to his horror, however, that the jobs consists of doing the layout for corny novelty calendars. He escapes his dreary life by chasing his neighbor, the bohemian Stephanie, while at the same time combatting a weirdo sleep disorder.

Michel Gondry, like his sometime collaborator Charlie Kaufman, is a director who often does best when he works with others. Left to his own devices, he mostly produces imaginative but sloppy work that seems to do away with plot and character development entirely in favor of arts and craft set pieces. Gondry first came to prominence due to his music videos and his style has always seemed better adapted to that medium. "The Science of Sleep" suffers to make any sense and stumbles through its running time with no clear idea of what it's about or where it's going. In the end, Gondry's film annoyed me more than anything because I felt the whole enterprise made zero effort to connect with the viewer. Much llike "Be Kind Rewind," Gondry's latest effort which I also disliked, "The Science of Sleep" seems to have been an excuse for Gondry to extract some cash out of a studio and just go do his own thing rather than make a real film. Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, both great actors in their own right, are utterly wasted here.

Zatoichi

2009-12-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

B+

Directed by Takeshi Kitano

The blind swordsman Zatoichi gets the Takeshi Kitano treatment in Kitano's uneven but nevertheless impressive take on the timeless classic.

Zatoichi, a blind masseur and swordsman, wanders into a small town in the grips of a Yakuza gang war whose residents live in constant fear of their thugish overlords. Zatoichi tries to stay out of it, but as is always the case, he ends up coming to the defense of the townspeople in a series of eye popping (and in one case, eye gouging) brawls.

As is often the case with Kitano's films, "Zatoichi" suffers from extremely uneven direction, resulting in a pace that jerks around wildly. Kitano's direction is usually anything but tight, so the choppy pacing of "Zatoichi" is to be expected although it doesn't make it any less frustrating to the viewer.

"Zatoichi" features well chopreographed swordfights with over the top arterial spray (where blood spurts out like a geyser after a sword blow--think 'Kill Bill') which, let's admit it, is sort of played out. In Kitano's defense, however, "Zatoichi" was made in 2003 so he was still somewhat on the cusp of the movement (if you want to call it that) and his particular brand of the special effect is very well done. As in other Kitano films, the violence, although gory, often plays for laughs and is underscored by a noticeably cartoonish element.

"Zatoichi" is not always perfect but it is always original which is what I've come to expect from Takeshi Kitano's films. Indeed, Kitano takes the timeless blind swordsman and makes him something all his own (quite literally, since Kitano himself plays the swordsman…). The icing on the cake is the elaborate dance number that concludes "Zatoichi," an anachronistic yet utterly rousing ensemble number that is vintage Kitano. Why's it in the movie? Because he felt like putting it there, period. Kitano's utter lack of pretensions, as well as his efforts to in ject whatever he does with genuine freshness make him movies, even his bad ones, constantly interesting.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

2009-12-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

A-

Directed by Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," the director's first forray into animation, is a fairly resounding success, a movie that appeals to a wider audience than any of Anderson's earlier films but nevertheless remains sophisticated and intelligent in a way that most animated films are not.

Based on the Roald Dahl classic, Anderson's film follows the exploits of the smooth talking and dashing Mr. Fox who abandons his trade as chicken thief when his wife Felicity tells him she's pregnant. We rejoin the couple several years later as they relocate from their foxhole to more lavish housing in the trunk a tree. Mr. Fox, who is now working as a newspaper columnist, grows restless however, and soon hatches a plan with his oppossum friend Kylie to rob the areas three biggest businessmen. When the plan is found out, however, the whole animal community is thrust into danger as the farmers ruthlessly seek revenge on Mr. Fox.

The success of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" comes as little surrpise seeing as how Anderson's aesthetic is known to often veer off towards the cartoonish. Indeed, "Mr. Fox" is inbued with the same energy and color Anderson's films are known for, replete with the deadpan dialogue and sudden bursts of classic rock to liven up the mood. It also features the familiar melancholic undertow that runs through Anderson's work, but he doesn't overdo it in "Mr. Fox" and lets the film play out as a largely joyous and irreverent affair. This is not to say that it doesn't have its more serious moments (as serious as you can get in an animated film about a debonair fox, I suppose) but only that Anderson doesn't seem to have been as preoccupied with trying to beef up "Fantastic Mr. Fox" with added layers of moral or psychological depth like he has in past efforts which, let's be honest, has not always been as effective as he probably wished. Anderson's willingness to ditch the pretensions and just let "Mr. Fox" be as fun as it can be is a credit to the director's restraint (something he hasn't always been known for) and really highlights Anderson's strengths as a filmmaker. The stop-motion animation is wonderfully unique, giving Anderson's film a sort of old fashioned sheen that feels familiar yet is still technically impressive, even to viewer unfamiliar with the ins and outs of animation such as myself.

Michael Clayton

2009-11-29T17:24:00.001-08:00

Directed by Tony Gilroy

Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton" is a satisfying if not completely groundbreaking thriller that skillfully explores the corrosive effects corporate greed.

Michael Clayton is the bag man for a large and powerful New York firm which is currently representing U-North, an agro-products multinational embroiled in a class aciton lawsuit having to do with one of its products that allegedly causes cancer. When the senior litigator at Clayton's firms suddenly goes off the rails and threatens to reveal incriminating details about the case, Clayton is sent in to "fix" the problem, only to find himself in a deadly game with U-North's henchmen who desperately want to silence anything that may incriminate them.

The revelation that large multinational law firms work hard to bury facts, draw out legal procedures, and generally work as long as possible to extract maximum billables from their corporate clients is nothing really shocking which probably makes the whole premise of "Michael Clayton" even more sobering. Indeed the parasitic relationship between multinational law firms and multinational corporations is pretty much common knowledge to anyone with even a passing familiarity with the legal world. "Michael Clayton" certainly paints a rather cynical view of both BIGLAW firms and the companies they service, but then again the cynicism seems well founded.

Beyond that, however, "Michael Clayton" stretches the truth a great deal. I doubt the "bag men" of major law firms are called on to patch things up on the fly when a big client is involved in a hit and run or likewise that multinational corporations keep hitmen on their payroll. However much it strays from realitiy, however, there remains a kernal of truth in "Michael Clayton" that keeps Gilroy's film from becoming nothing more than another thriller with an evil law firm at its center. Gilroy's film is most astute in how it shows ordinary people being completely swallowed in the gears of a mamoth entity as well as how decisions that are sent down the chain of coporate command can have ugly and very grave consequences on the lives of ordinary people. "Michael Clayton" doesn't hit on these issues as relentlessly and with the same single minded focus as a film like "Harlan County U.S.A" but it doesn't overreach either and become a pseudo-intellectual mess like "The Corporation." "Michael Clayton" is, of course, a work of fiction so it probably shouldn't be held to the same standards as a documentary but it is still an incisive film that looks to provoke debate rather than simply pointing fingers.

Zombieland

2009-11-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

Directed by Ruben Fleischer

Yet another zombie movie is upon up and this one, I must say, is not that bad.

You know the drill. A virus is sweeping the United States, leaving those infected looking desperately for fresh human meat to feast upon. A few survivors, as always, remain, including the nerdy Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) who has stayed alive by following a few simple rules which he shares with us at the beginning of the film. Wanting to locate his parents, Columbus takes off for, well, Columbus and meets Tallahasee (Woody Harrelson) on the way. A road trip ensues.

Sometimes it's difficult to decide what grade to award a film (seeing as how my ratings have such a permanent and important impact on the success of most films…) but sometime I watch a movie and say "Wow. That movie was a total 'B!"' And so it is with "Zombieland." This film, ladies and genteleman, is the clearest "B" I've ever seen. It's not horrible, it's not great. It's just alright. And that's probably a good thing for a zombie film, seeing how saturated the market is. Indeed, the explosion of Zombie films in recent years has sort of skewed the rules of supply and demand, insofar as filmmakers seem to want to give viewers more Zombies than they can handle, and as a result films like Fleischer's don't really stand out. Actually the film itself is pretty medicore but it's elevated from mediocrity to decency by the presence of Woody Harrelson as Tallahasee, an example of a casting director earning his keep if I've ever seen one. Likewise, Bill Murray's brief but hilarious cameo as himself is fantastic and I'd say that it's worth watching "Zombieland" for these two elements alone. The script, although amusing at times, seems a bit halfhearted and lacks the laugh out loud moments of "Shaun of the Dead," its closest work of comparison. I also think Flesicher's film would have been better if he'd replacedJesse Eisenberg, the broke man's Michael Cera, with the real Michael Cera or really with any other actor available. I can't stand that guy's limp wristed persona. Personal vendetta's aside, the rest of the supporting actors are pretty decent despite the fact that no one is asked to do anything too demanding.

The Harmonium in my Memory

2009-11-27T18:17:00.000-08:00

Directed by Young-jae Lee

Young-jae Lee's "The Harmonium in my Memory" is a sweetly nostalgic but deceptively astute story of first love that does absolutely everything right from start to finish.

Newly graduated Kang Soo ha leaves Seoul to take up a post as an elementary and middle school teacher in a remote Korean village. Upon his arrival he finds the school in disaray thanks in large part to his lackluster fellow teachers, but it's not all bad news for Soo ha since the other teacher joining the school is the beautiful Min-hie, who Soo ha immediately develops an interest in. An invisible love triangle of sorts is formed when Soo ha becomes the object of his student Hongyeon's infatuation.

"The Harmonium in my Memory" is a far, far better picture than it seems to have any right to be, imbued with an intelligence and nuance that is rare if not almost completely absent from such films. Although it's drawn comparison's mostly to Zhang Yimou's "The Road Home" due to obvious parrallels in the storylines of both films, I found that Young-jae Lee's film reminded me most of Lasse Hallstrom's "My Life as a Dog" due to its similarly deft understanding of the minds of both adults and children. Young-jae Lee's film is further notable in its willingnes to wade into some rather dicey subject matter and actually explore a possible romance between Soo Ha and Hongyeon without making it seem vulgar or exploitative. The effortless way Young-jae Lee pulls it all off is probably not fully appreciated by everyone who has sees "The Harmonium in my Memory," but it's a credit to Lee that he takes probably the most difficult way out in "The Harmonium in my Memory" and still makes it work. Both Hongyeon and Soo Ha mature in believable yet very different ways throughout the film, Hongyeon assuming a greater measure of femine maturity and Soo Ha coming to terms with the limitations and disappointments of life, even for someone like him, and the growth of both characters makes the film's ultimate denouement seem completely logical.

Young-jae Lee's relative absence from the big screen since the release of "The Harmonium in my Memory" is a shame considering how good this offering is and I sincreley hope to see more from the director in the future.

The Game

2009-11-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

B-

Directed by David Fincher

David Fincher's puzzling (to say the least) film "The Game" may not go down as one of his greatest works but it's still fairly enjoyable despite its laughably convoluted plot.

Michael Douglas stars as Nicholas Van Orton, a fantastically wealthy investment banker whose crumbling personal life has left him a rigid, lonely and unpleasant character. Nicholas' brother Conrad (Sean Penn) surprises him on his birthday with a gift certificate from a company know as Consumer Recreation Services which promises Nicholas a thrilling live action game. When the game begins, however, Nicholas is thrown into a deadly game of manipulation that quickly spins out of control and throws his ordered life into turmoil.

The strongest attribute of Fincher's film is that it is, regardless of how one might feel about its ludicrous plot, immediately engaging. It's myriad twists and turns are amusing and keep the viewer guessing until the end but by the film's final act, I'd felt like I'd been jerked around too much to care anymore. The film reminded me of Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige" insofar as both films are fairly minor works by talented directors and they both feature scripts so ridiculous that even a complete suspension of belief is probably insufficient to fully enjoy them. I will say that a movie with so hokey a plot would have most likely been an epic stinker had it been helmed by a lesser talent and Fincher does a pretty good job in keeping "The Game" afloat despite its flaws. The film is further saved from itself by its great artistic direction and cinematography which cast San Francisco as both sleek and somber, giving the film a moody, ominous feel that fits it well. As far as the acting goes, it's a mix of good and bad in my book. Michael Douglas, one of Hollywood's most underrated actors (yes, I do believe that) is fantastic as the cold and bitter Van Orton playing alongside one of Hollywood's most overrated actors, Sean Penn, who graces us with his usual histrionics.

Face/Off

2009-11-25T16:08:00.003-08:00

Directed by John Woo

John Woo's classic thriller (and Bernadette's favorite film) is vintage John Woo but with less gunfighting and more Nick Cage and John Travolta, botha of which are flaws that prevent it from reaching action greatness (in my book at least).

Nick Cage (ugh) plays international terrorist Castor Troy and John Travolta (ugh) plays his arch nemesis, FBI officer Sean Archer. When Archer finally nabs Troy after a botched escape attempt he and his family finally believe that their long history with Troy has come to an end. Not so, however, since Troy has hidden a bomb somewhere in L.A. whose location is known only by Troy's brother Pollux who is serving time in a maximum security prison on an offshore oil rig. In an effort to discover the whereabouts of the bomb, Archer agrees to a face transplant in order to assume the identity of Castor Troy. Things get only more ridiculous from this point onward.

I have a tendency to compare all of John Woo's action films to his masterpiece, "The Killer" and it compared to that movie, "Face/Off" sucks. But then again, compared to "The Killer" almost every action movie sucks, so I need to start getting my standards in order. As an action film "Face/Off" holds up quite well. It's smoothly paced and expertly directed by Woo who, according to the man himself, was given carte blanche by the studio heads in charge of the film to do whatever he wanted. The freedom given to Woo shows in the excess of some of the scenes which, rather than being a drawback, give the film the over the top aesthetic that is the hallmark of his films. The acting combo of John Travolta and Nicolas Cage is about as unappealing to me as any acting duo on the planet, I could hack their over the top, bloated performances surprisingly well, likely because the sour taste left by their presence in "Face/Off" was offset (to some degree) by Woo's direction. Man, do I hate those two.

One criticism I do have of "Face/Off," at least in comparison to Woo's better films, is the lack of gunplay. Woo's greatest strength, in my opinion at least, is his unsurpassed skill at pacing and choreographing gun fights. His classic works such as "The Killer," "A Better Tomorrow" and "Hardboiled" are all notable for their gunplay and I think that any Woo film that doesn't rely heavily on his talent for staging gun fights will never be able to reach the rarefied air of action bliss that is can be found in the aforementioned films. "Face/Off" spends a great deal of time plotting the cat and mouse game between Troy and Archer which was mostly time wasted in my book. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that "Face/Off" is an enjoyable piece of escapist film and it is likely Woo's most successful and entertaining American film.

Inju

2009-11-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

Directed by Barbet Schroeder

What the heck has happened to Barbet Schroeder? It's hard to believe the same director who gave us "Koko" and "Reversal of Fortune" is responsible for this lazy and uninspired stinker.

Benoît Maginal stars as Alex Fayard, a french academic and author who is the world's foremost expert on a reclusive, mysterious Japanese author named Shundei Oe who, despite selling millions of copies of his novels, has never been seen in public. Fayard takes off for Kyoto to promote his newest book but is immediately drawn into a web of deceit and manipulation with Oe at its center. The twists pile up (like a heap of dung, I must say) as Fayard loses himself in Oe's sordid world.

Schroeder's film is really an A to Z essay in failure. From bad acting to credibility gaps the size of the Grand Canyon in Jean Armand Bougrelle's script, there's plenty of blame to go around for this mess. The film is poorly paced and poorly plotted as well, its flacidness punctuated here and there by odd detours into seemingly random sado-mosochistic behavior by its characters. The Japanese actors, bless their hearts, are made to recite an uncomfortably large amount of french dialogue that was obviously memorized word for word beforehand, leading to the odd but often seen phenomenon of characters who have flawless grammar but unbelievably thick accents in a foreign language. Maginal, a talented actor in his own right, seems to have convinced himself of the nobility of his efforts and really does give it a go, but his earnestness clashes violently with the flat delivery of co-stars Lika Minamota and Shinpei Asanuma. The film's cinematography saves it from complete ignominity, as it mercilessly bestows an air of subdued class to an otherwise risible affair.

The Chinese Botanist's Daughters

2009-11-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

D+

Directed by Dai Sijie

The fact that Dijie Sai's paper thin "The Chinese Botanist's Daughters" won not one but TWO awards at the 2006 Montreal World Film Festival says a whole lot about the sorry quality of that event. I can only hope that such a weak offering from an otherwise talented filmmaker would be coldly received at a more legitimate film festival (say, *cringe* the TIFF?)

Myléne Jampinoi plays Min Li, a young student who is sent to study under a famed botanist during a six month internship. The sour welcome offered to her by the coarse and moody botanist is mitigated by the warmth of his daughter Cheng An. Min Li and Cheng An quickly strike up a warm friendship that (in seemingly no time at all) turns into a rapturous romance. Not wanting to part ways at the end of Min Li's internship, the two come up with a thoroughly half baked plan to remain together.

Dai Sijie's previous effort, "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress," a thoughtful story about a pair of boys sent to rural China for "re-education" during Mao's rule, was a promising effort that married lush production values with a sober handling of the hardships faced by Chinese citizens during communist rule. "The Chinese Botanist's Daughters'" however, is a thinly scripted and at times lazy story that has at its core a romance that lacks any authenticity. The romantic relationship between Min Li and Cheng An is barely explained and they seem to fall into each other's arms almost the minute Min Li arrives in town. Their subsqequent scheme to stay together is both suspiciously naive and seems to have been engineered by writer Nadine Perront purposefully to set up a b it of faux drama that would segway easily to a tragic denouement.

As lacking as this film is in anything related to serious content, it's still beautiful to look at and if your eyes just need a quick vacation you could do worse than letting them feast on the lush scenery on display in Dai Sijie's film.

Gamorrah

2009-11-23T18:04:00.000-08:00

B+

Directed by Matteo Garrone

Matteo Garrone adaptation of Roberto Saviano's heralded investigation of Naples' infamous criminal organization is an unflinching, authentic look at the corrosive criminal underbelly of the city and its tragic impact on the lives of its citizens.

"Gamorrah" follows five different narrative threads, none of them directly related to one another but all nonetheless linked in some way to the city's criminal syndicate. Most of the action takes place in a crumbling housing block in the city's slums, home to a number of the organizations foot soldiers.

Although Garrone's "Gamorrah" is not, as the Boston Herald boldly claimed, the "greatest gangster film of all time" it's still a pretty darn good movie. It's flawlessly authentic, benefits from fantastic ensemble acting, and gritty in an immediate, primal (if you'll excuse the pretentions associated with that adjective) way that made me feel like I'd been unceremoniously dumped in the slums of Naples and left there to dodge stray bullets. The documentary-like aesthetic of the film has been duly praised and it really is the element that stands out the most prominently upon viewing Garrone's work.

The five seperate vignettes presented in the film are too anecdotal, however, and character development suffers greatly. Although the intertwining narrative Garrone uses is more immediately engrossing, I couldn't help but feel that each character probably deserved more than the limited they were given to develop into something more three dimensional. In the same way, "Gamorrah" seems to touch on a number fo major philosophical and social issues but doesn't really stop to deeply investigate any of them. It's a bit frustrating to see a film with such intellectual depth fail to live up to its potential but asking "Gamorrah" to be everything I hoped it would be is probably asking too much, to be fair. Suffice it to say that Garrone's delivers a gripping and harrowingly authentic interpretation of Saviano's work that is well worth viewing.

Paranormal Activity

2009-11-22T12:28:00.000-08:00

B-

Directed by Oren Pelli

Oren Pelli's underground sensation "Paranormal Activity" will go down as perhaps one of the most financially successful films of all time (relative to how much it cost to make) having cost a tiny $15,000 to make before opening near the top of the box office charts during its run in North American cinemas. The film itself, however, doesn't seem to live up to the hype, although Pelli should be commended for making such a slick looking film on such a negligible budget.

College student Katie complains to her live in boyfriend Micah about what she claims to be night time paranormal activity. In an effort to investigate his girlfriend's claims, Micah sets up a camera to watch their house's night time activity. Things quickly begin to get out of control as whatever it is that is haunting Katie begins to pick up its pace, sending Micah and Katie into a desperate tailspin of fear.

My girlfriend claimed that she was never frightened by Pelli's film and I tend to believe her, mostly because she has a strong stomach for these types of things. For hardcore scare fans, this movie just doesn't deliver. There are a few tense scenes but I think midway through the film there's a realization that Pelli is so hamstrung by his micro-budget that most of the scares will be shadows or bumps or phantom scratching. Its effectiveness wears off fairly quickly as the film wears on and by the end of it even I wasn't peering at the screen in fear of seeing something crazy pop out (and that's saying a lot, because I usually fare poorly in these types of films, I'll admit it). That said, Pelli does a lot with his extremely limited budget and succeeds in making a film that seems way more polished than its tiny budget would seem to allow. The acting, although a bit screechy and over the tope at times, is for the most part believable when it could have easily been campy or amateurish. Pelli's skill at setting an ominous mood is also beyond reproach and he often succeeds in making a rather harmless frame, such as a shot of a bedroom, crawl with uneasiness. The problem is that the payoff almost never comes and once you figure that out, the scenes quickly lose their edge. Pelli's film's weakest point is probably that is will not, in any way, stand up to repeat viewings. Whereas a psychological horror film like "Rosemary's Baby" continues to creep viewers out after they've seen it twenty times, a repeat viewing of "Paranormal Activity" is practically useless and essentially bereft of any of the power it had in its original viewing.

My Kid Could Paint That

2009-11-22T12:02:00.000-08:00

Directed by Amir Bar Lev

Documentarian Amir Bar Lev's documentary "My Kid Could Paint That" is an interesting look at the many peculiarities of the modern art world and also a great example of what happens when a documentary maker is at the right place at the right time.

Bar Lev originally wanted to make a documentary about young Marla Olmstead, a four year old whose modern art, made in her parents kitchen and originally shown at a local pub, eventually turns her into an art phenomenon, fetching thousands of dollars per work. At the height of Marla's popularity, however, a "60 Minutes" special on her art raises questions as to the authenticity of her work, sending Marla and her family headlong into a media firestorm.

Bar Lev's original plan was to make a documentary that focused primarily on the modern art world and what exactly made modern art "art." The time he spends on this particular question is probably the best part of "My Kid Could Paint That," insofar as the debate surrounding the legitimacy of abstract art is a fascinating one. The fact that Jackson Pollock, whose work has often been criticized as nothing more than random drips of paint and not art, is nevertheless the artist to fetch the highest price ever at auction for one of his works ($140 million) and that the work of Marla Olmstead, a four year old who can barely string together coherent sentences or feed herself independently, fetches tens of thousands of dollars from wealthy collectors are both cause for debate. Bar Lev engages quite interestingly in a discussion on the merits of abstract art before being sidetracked midway through by the allegations that Marla's parents might be helping her complete her work. This revelation may have appeared to be a windfall to Bar Lev but I frankly felt that it detracted from what had until then been a rather solid investigation of the often whacky world of art. In the end, Bar Lev doesn't really "investigate" the credibility of Marla's work but rather decides to play a passive role as the whole story unfolds. As far as I could tell, Marla's father was almost certainly guilty of either helping her create or finish her work or even including work in her shows that was not hers at all. I would have rather seen Bar Lev ask some tough questions to Marla's father and actually nail the guy then play it down the middle. But maybe I'm just bloodthirsty.

The Spy who Came in from the Cold

2009-11-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

B-

Directed by Martin Ritt

Director Martin Ritt's adapation of John Le Carré's novel has all the elelments of a slow burning, tightly wound spy caper but it unfortunately fails to live up to the sum of its parts.

Alec Leamas (played fantastically by Richard Burton), a jaded British intelligence agent at the end of his rope, retires to London after a botched job in Berlin. He takes up a job as an assistant librarian and meets the beautiful Nan Perry and the two start up a tentative romance that seems to give the depressed Leamas a shot in the arm. Their burgeoning relationship is cut short when Laemas is called back to duty for a final mission behind the iron curtain where he is tasked with eliminating the East German super spy, Hans Munst.

Like most film adaptations of Le Carré's work that I've been exposed to, "The Spy who came in from the Cold" seems to be filled with great ideas that fail to really translate into anything palpably exciting or intriguing. I was left with the same empty feeling I experienced after watching "The Tailor of Panama" even though Ritt's film enjoyed substantially more critical praise than the latter adaptation of Le Carré's work. There is no doubt that Ritt's adaptation is quite well done and Burton's performance is remarkable, elevating "The Spy who Came into the Cold" beyond some of the less inspired adaptations of Le Carré's work. The bottom line, however, is that I just don't find Le Carré's work that compelling. It's too far flung to seem realistic but not wild enough to just be good, old fashioned cold war era fun in the style of James Bonds' many forays behind the iron curtain. The political and social angles of Ritt's work also seems a bit thin in retrospect as Ritt portrays Laemas as a man caught between two amoral camps, both of which are equally disdainful of the lives of individuals in their pursuit of larger political victory. Although there's an element of truth in that view, I've never been comfortable with works that try to completely level the playing field and stoop to relativism when it comes to evaluating such heavy subject matter.

In the end, however, the lack of poignant or intelligent commentary on the politics of the day could have been overcome by an intriguing narrative. Ritt's work, however revered it may be in the genre, simply fails to deliver on that count.

In the Realms of the Unreal

2009-11-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

Directed by Jennifer Yu

Jennifer Yu's documentary about the peculiar life of folk artists Henry Darger offers a fascinating look at the man's art but struggles to peace together the details of Darger's reclusive existence.

Darger was born in Chicago and suffered a difficult childhood, eventually being sent to an orphanage after his father's death. He eventually turned into a reclusive and quiet man, living in a one bedroom flat in a Chicago building owned by Kioyoko Lerner and her husband. Darger worked as a janitor and seemed to have no other interests or friends and led what appeared to those around him to be a lonely life. After his death, Lerner found a huge trove of art in Darger's room, featuring multicolored, wildly imaginative works, some of which were close to 12 feet tall, as well as a 15,000 page illustrated novel titled "In the Realms of the Unreal."

Despite the many strengths of Yu's work, I couldn't shake the feeling that the analysis of Darger was noticeably thin. The problem, I believe, stems from the fact that no one, not Darger's landlord, not his fellow tenants, not even those at the catholic church he attended on a daily basis, really knew Darger. Although his work reveals much about the man, his extreme secrecy makes it diffifcult for anyone interviewed by Yu to give anything approaching serious insight into the man. Yu's film thus wades rather liberally into speculation on everything ranging from his relationship with his parents to potentional psychological illnesses. None of it is malicious and those being interviewed all seem to have a soft spot for the eccentric Darger, but it still remains that no one seems to know enough about the man to offer any authoritative commentary. Yu seems content to allow Darger to be shrouded in mystery and hearsay but her film leaves the viewer feeling by the end of it like they know little more about Darger than at the beginning.

The animation of Darger's work, likely considered blashpemous by folk art purists, was rather delightful in my opinion, bringing Darger's eccentric and colorful work to life in a way that seems to befit Darger's creations. Even though Yu strikes out when it comes to her attempts at appraising Darger himself, her grasp of his art is fantastic and she succesfully emphasizes his creative process and the idiosyncracies of his world. Darger's art remains the film's main draw and his folk aesthethic, filled with fanciful creatures and bright colors, is eye popping and joyful even if it bellies the artirst's own insecurities and loneliness. What struck me the most about Darger's story, however, is how completely humans can retreat away from the real world and into an alternate universe and be, for better or worse, content there. All persons tend to retreat to some extent to a certain alternative universe of their own creation, be it their imagination, art, or any other escape, but Darger is one of the unique few to have escaped almost completely into a different reality while still staying at least partially connected to the real world. A fascinating character, to be sure.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter....and Spring

2009-10-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

A

Directed by Kim Ki Duk

"Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter....and Spring," the immensely talented Kim Ki Duk's best known and arguably most accomplished film to date, is a rich and rewarding tale of great symbolic and spiritual depth.

An old monk and his disciple live on a small floating temple in the middle of an isolated lake. This spiritually rigorous environment is suddenly broken when the monk's disciple falls in love with a sick girl from the outside who had been brought to the temple by her mother to convalesce. The young monk's passion soon pushes him to leave his master, a decision he will later regret deeply.

"Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter....and Spring," although a simple story, is fantastically rich in both character development and symbolism. I've always felt that Kim was one of the most "literary" filmmakers working today (if that makes any sense at all...) insofar as he seems to approach much of his work in a deliberate and calculated way that gives an immense place to detail, character, and symbolism. "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter....and Spring" is likely his most accomplished work as Kim infuses his film with layer upon layer of symbolic meaning, giving his work an incredible amount of depth in a rather short running time. Despite it's heavy Buddhist underpinnings, "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter....and Spring" is suffused with a number of universal religious truths, most specifically the emptiness of the material world and the fleeting nature of carnal desires.
Kim's immense talent as a director has often been overshadowed by his choice to focus on shocking or otherwise dicey subject matter so it's nice that he finally released a movie whose subject matter doesn't overshadow Kim's brilliance. Don't get me wrong, some of Kim's more shocking or controversial efforts were also great films but with "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter....and Spring" you can sit back and enjoy the full breadth of Kim's talent without the cringe inducing scenes or the occasional pangs of disgust that come with some of his other films.

All About Lily Chou Chou

2009-10-11T22:32:00.001-07:00

A+

Directed by Shunji Iwai

Shunji Iwai's horrowing tale of adolescence is a shocking, beautiful, and ultimately believable rumination on isolation, loneliness, and escapism in a digital world.

Yuichi is a 14 year old boy navigating the choppy waters of adolescence with the help of ethereal singer Lily Chou Chou who he spends his time obsessing over with a linkminded band of "Lilyholics" on an internet chatroom. Lily Chou Chou provides Yuichi a measure of escape from his truly hellish school situation where bullying runs rampant, led by the morally bankrupt Hoshino who terrorizes his fellow schoolmates and even runs blackmails some of his female classmates into a forming a prostitution ring. As events at school escalate, Yuichi finds it ever more difficult to keep the gloom of his everyday life from infringing on his sole window of escape, Lily Chou Chou.

"Lily Chou Chou" is unquestionably bleak stuff and gives few glimpses of hope in the otherwise gloomy world that Yuichi and his classmates are trapped in. At the same time, it's a mesmorizing and almost ravisingly beautiful film, Iwai's beautiful visual touches being complemented perfectly by a melancholy score by Takeshi Kobayashi that makes heavy use of Debussy. The gloominess of the script, however, is tempered by Iwai's obvious compassion for his characters and their struggles and his implication that better days are ahead for Yuichi and his friends, no matter how ugly things are at the moment.
Iwai isn't Larry Clarke, meaning he isn't some old hack who thinks high school is a land of rampant drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, and generally misanthropy even though he portrays it that way in "Lily Chou Chou." Many of Iwai's other films that deal with high school aged characters (which make up the bulk of his work) seem to show a range of views on adolescence, such as the saccharine sweet "April Story" or the nostlagic and melancholy "Hana and Alice" both of which treat adolescence as a kinder and decidly gentler time than "Lily Chou Chou." My impression is that Iwai recognizes the pain and the joys of adolescences and simply maximizes them in his work in an effort to present a portrayal of youth that, although being realistic to some degree, pushes the envelope and dips into the surreal as well. I still remember high school and I can say that it often seemed like it was both the best and worst of times, a feeling that Iwai connects well with. I've always appreciated Iwai's ability to tinge his optimistic and bright films with a hint of melancholy and his more gloomy and dark pictures with moments of hope, an ability that gives all of his films greater depth.
This is Shunji Iwai's masterpiece, a wonderful, poignant, and beautiful film that demands repeat viewings.

Bright Future

2009-10-11T08:24:00.000-07:00

A-

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Kurosawa's first major non-horror efforts proves that the prolific and oftentimes brilliant Japanese director is as versatile as he is talented.

Friends Mamoru and Yuji work together at a small manufacturing plant by day and by night, pretty much take it easy. Yuji has an interest in "music appreciation" and Mamoru, the more eccentric of the two, is trying to adapt a poisonous saltwater jellyfish to freshwater by slowly replacing the seawater in its tank on a daily basis. Seemingly out of nowhere, Mamoru viciously kills their boss and his wife, landing him in on death row. Mamoru's estranged father pops back into the picture and starts a tentative friendship with Yuji.

"Bright Future," although aesthetically similar to much of Kurosawa's other work, lacks the tightly wound narrative focus of films like "Cure" or "Séance" which is not necessarily a bad thing. The loosy goosy (aura) that surrounds Kurosawa's movie is disorienting and constantly surprising without being impossible to follow. Many of the hallmarks of Kuroswa's films nonetheless remain such as the society's often crushing impact on the individual or individual obsession with some eccentric project, in this case Mamoru's efforts to adapt his jellyfish to freshwater.

As a tale of Japan's disaffected youth, "Bright Future" might lack the emotional depth of visceral punch of films like "All about Lily Chou Chou" but it is no less on point, providing an interesting portrayal of urban ennui as opposed to the in your face tales of bullying, violence, and sexual promiscuity shown in the latter. The final scene, a brilliant long shot of a group of teens walking along an avenue in matching outfits of blue jeans and Che Guevera shirts, is indicative of Kurosawa's handling of the issue, his approach significantly more playful and sly than that of other filmmakers interested in the subject.

Kurosawa has always been a master of sound editing but the visual aspect of his films is equally brilliant and, in my opinion at least, chronically underrated. Kurosawa infuses his film with an aesthetic that is at once ominous and unsettling, an unfamiliar vision of the everyday that infuses his films with a sense of melancholic foreboding.

The acting is excellent, the usual in a Kurosawa film, with the always solid Tadanobu Asano taking a convincing turn as the enigmatic Mamoru opposite a solid Joe Odagiri as Yuji.

Taste of Tea

2009-10-01T15:09:00.001-07:00

B+

Directed by Katsuhito Ishii

Japanese director Katsuhito Ishii, the notoriously weird mind behind such confusing and oddball creations as "Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl" and "Funky Forest: The First Contact" tones down the weirdness for long enough to make the very satisfying "Taste of Tea," a magic realist exploration of family dynamics in rural Japan.

The Haruno family live in a small bungalow in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. The family is headed by patriarch Nabuo, a quiet salaryman, and his wife Yoshiko, a housewife trying to start a career as an animator. Their son Hajime is a daydreamer, stricken with an infatuation for the school's beautiful new arrival, Aoi. Hajime's younger sister, Sachiko, believes that she is being followed by a gigantic version of herself. Their grandfather, Akira, also lives with the family and spends his days drawing and serving as a model for Yoshiko's animation. The Haruno's uncle, Ayano, also lives with the family, though were never really given any indication that he's doing anything productive with his life.

The plot of "Taste of Tea" is far from elaborate or focused, Ishii contenting himself to drop viewers off at the Haruno's home, let them mill around for a awhile before picking them up again. Despite this, the film is far from pointless or simply anecdotal. Indeed, Ishii deals with each character's particular ambitions or fears but in the end his film in a way that leaves them feeling fleshed out and three dimensional, leaving vieweres with a full picture of all the members of the Haruno household. Although dysfunctional families get plenty of play in the movies, functional families often don't and when they do, it's usually in the form of a crude, ham fisted "Cheaper by the Dozen" caricature. The family in "Taste of Tea" is happy, warm, and loving but never comes off as unreal or Brady Bunch-esque.
At 153 minutes, Ishii's film is probably a half hour too long and he would have done well to part with some of the film's more drawn out scenes. That said, this isn't a film that was meant to be rigidly paced or edited and its languid pace and willingness to drift wherever it pleases give it an element of undeniable charm.

Inglourious Basterds

2009-08-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

B

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino's long awaited feature film "Inglorious Basterds" reaffirms what we all already knew about QT, namely that he is an immesely talented filmmaker who nonetheless tends to get lost in his own excesses.

Lt. Aldo Raine forms a small group of American jews tasked with going behind enemy lines to, in the words of Raine himself, "kill Nazis!" Raine and his superiors (we are led to believe this is an OSS outfit) hope to sow terror within the German ranks, thus weakening the moral of Hitler's troups on the Eastern front. At the same time, in Vichy France, Goebbels prepares to screen his newest piece of cinematic propoganda, focusing on the exploits of a valiant German soldier named Ernst Zoeller. Zoeller convinces Goebbels to screen the film in a small cinemateque owned by his unrequited love interest, the beautiful Shoshannah who plans to make the premier a spectacle to remember.

Although it bears all the hallmarks of a Quentin Tarantino film, "Inglorious Basterds" is a unique creation in the oeuvre of Tarantino, a film that asks its audience to sit down and listen rather than simply kick back and enjoy. This isn't to say that "Basterds" isn't enjoyable, which it is, but Tarantino takes more time developing characters through dialogue than by simply letting the carnage fly. An interesting approach, for sure, but it does seem to drag at times, something that Tarantino's films have never been known to do. Although the acting is fantastic and the dialogue for the most part highly engaging, I couldn't help but feel that many of the film's scenes were in need of serious editing. Some of the more drawn out scenes, such as a taut stand off between an SS officer and a french farmer accused of harboring Jews, benefit from their length, while others are simply too long for their own good and the good of the movie. Furthermore, Tarantino spends relatively little time with the Basterds themselves, all things considered, which is a bit disappointing since Raine's merry band of men are by far the most compelling cast of characters in the film. Tarantino spends more time with exploring the plotline involving Shoshannah and Zoeller which, although at times interesting, was often a bit of a drag.
Despite its many faults, this is a Quentin Tarantino picture which means its wild, inventive, and a great deal of fun. Tarantino's refusal to take himself or his subject matter too seriously, no matter how many accolades or prizes are thrown his way, is his greatest asset, preventing his films from ever become bogged down by pretensions. "Inglorious Basterds" hilarious alternative take on world history is both flippant and oddly cathartic. For anyone who ever wished to go back in time and kick evil in the teeth, Tarantino's film is a satisfying little jaunt.

My Architect: A Son's Journey

2009-08-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Directed by Nathaniel Khan

Louis I. Khan's only son Nathaniel, born of an of an affair between Khan and Nathanial Khan's mother Harriet Pattison, attempts to retrace his father's life and reconnect with the famous architect by visiting his buildings and interviewing the people who knew him best. The resulting work is a surprisingly riveting look at the architects rocky professional life and even rockier personal life as well as an interesting survey of Khan's unique impact on American architecture.

Director Nathanial Khan starts "My Architect" with the barest of facts: His father, world famous architect Louis I. Khan, was found dead in a bathroom at Penn Station with his name crossed out on his passport. From there, he attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding Khan, moving backwards and recounting his father's life, his work, and his complex relationship with the three families he kept simultaneously in the Philadelphia area. While interviewing former friends, colleagues, and personal acquaintances of Khan's, the director also takes the time to visit most of his father's seminal works, including the Salk Institute, the Kimble Art Museum, and the massive National Assembly of Bangladesh.

Since Khan finished relatively few works, his son is able to give a fairly complete tour of his father's projects, giving the viewer a rather complete appreciation of Khan's œuvre, from the garishly the ugly, such as the a community center in Trenton, to the admittedly impressive such as the Salk Institute. Although Khan's monolithic structures are not my bag, you have to admire his efforts to make buildings that will stand the test of time.

Nathanial Khan is refreshingly honest when it comes to his opinion on his fathers buildings. After visiting the rRchards medical research laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania, he bluntly states that he "wanted to like it" but just couldn't. When visiting his father's more aesthetically pleasing projects such as the Salk Institute and the National Assembly of Bangladesh, Khan lavishes some worthwhile praise on his father's work, highlighting the building's interesting features or historical relevance.

If the director is surprisingly impartial in his assessment of his father's buildings, he is far less so in his assessment of his character. Watching Louis I. Khan's son and former mistresses fall over themselves making excuses for his bad behavior is frankly a bit annoying. Although I have no trouble believing that Khan was a great mind and an interesting man you have to question the moral fiber of a guy who juggled three families simultaneously and, according to a Philly cab driver interviewed ny Nathaniel Khan, "loved the women." The eagerness of his ex-lovers and of the his son to shrug of his indiscretions and speak of Khan's character in glowing terms goes far in explaining Khan's hypnotic charisma seeing as how many of the individuals who suffered from his indiscretions seem to have not yet woken up to the fact that he might not have been an all around solid family man. Nathanial Khan obviously wants to like the man, and I guess you can't really fault him for that. His search for a posthumus connection with his father also makes for compelling viewing and "My Architect" is for the most part a pleasant and well made documentary.

Autumn Moon

2009-08-18T07:48:00.001-07:00

Directed by Clara Law

Hong Kong director Clara Law, the foremost female member of the city's cinematic "second wave," tackles familiar ground in "Autumn Moon," weaving an effecting and compassionate tale of immigration and the clash between Asian cultures.

Japanese tourist Tokio arrives in Hong Kong armed with a video camera, hoping to adsorb and record some of the city's magic. He soon meets school girl Pui-Wai who is living with her grandmother in Hong Kong but is soon to join her family in Canada. The two begin a tentative friendship, hampered significantly by a language barrier that they try to overcome by communicating in limited English. Despite their age difference, Tokio and Pui-Wai's relationship begins to deepen, both finding a measure of solace and fulfillment in the company of the other.

I'll admit that at the outset of this film I was skeptical that Law could make a friendship between a 15 year old Hong Kong school girl and a 25 year old Japanese tourist look in any way credible and I must say that I was probably right to be skeptical. As hard as Law tries, there's really no reason to believe that this quirky match would happen in real life and its often difficult to get past the unbelievable nature of the central character's relationship. That said, the interaction between the two characters is still somewhat believable (considering the circumstances) and Law certainly makes the most of a awkward situation, albeit one she imposed on herself.

Law's film is obviously influenced to a large extent by fellow second wave luminaries Wong Kar wai and Stanley Kwan. "Autumn Moon" falls somewhere in between Wong Kar Wai's paean's to urban loneliness and the sexual frankness of Kwan's films. Law's focus throughout her career on telling the stories of Hong Kong's large migrant population has made her work remarkably attuned to the specific challenges of the immigrant experience and she once again captures in remarkable detail the sense of transience and displacement felt by immigrants.

"Autumn Moon" is also an intelligent and poignant look at the clash of cultures present in Asia, a subject often overlooked in Asian cinema where the the complexities of cross cultural exchanges, especially those between Japan and its fellow East Asian countries, are often reduced to crude jabs at former Japanese imperialism. In this respect, the developing relationship between Tokio and Pui-Wai is surprisingly astute, as customs common to both character's cultures are superimposed over elements that are obviously quite foreign to them. It's a nuanced and intelligent handling of the issue that can be credited to Law's obviously deep understanding of the subject.

The Recruiter

2009-08-10T19:10:00.001-07:00

A

Directed by Gulshat Omarova

Although the beginning and end of most moviegoers knowledge of Kazakh film is "Borat" which is not, of course, Kazakh in any way shape or form, there exists an exciting yet still quite limited cinema scene in the former Soviet republic which has produced a number of excellent films, Gulshat Omarova's "The Recruiter" being no doubt one of the finest of these.

Mustafa, a young boy nicknamed "schizo" by his classmates due to his unpredictable behavior, lives with his mother and her boyfriend, the latter whom organizes illegal boxing matches between amateur fighters in need of a little cash. After one of the fighters dies in the ring, Mustafa takes it upon himself to deliver the unfortunate victim's winnings to his widow, Zinka. Mustafa quickly becomes infatuated with Zinka and befriends her young son. A tentative (and possibly illegal, come to think of it) romance begins to bloom between Zinka and Mustafa, both of whom find solace in each others company.

Fimmakers in Kazakhstan, a young and still quite impoverished country, are still highly dependent on the state to provide funding for their projects, making true artistic expression sometimes difficult as they try to placate government agencies with films that give a rosy picture of Kazakhstan in order to secure financing for their projects. "The Recruiter's" portrayal of rural life in Kazakhstan as unforgiving, aimless, and at times violent is therefore quite at odds with what many viewers have come to expect from films in a state that tightly controls the artistic outputs of its filmmakers. Much of "The Recruiter's" artistic freedoms can be explained by the fact that it is a project funded jointly by French, German, Russian, and Kazakh government and cultural agencies. The breathing room this type of funding gives a film like "The Recruiter" is a godsend for viewers who are exposed to the unimpeded vision of Omarova in a film that presents an unvarnished and unromanticized view of post-Soviet Kazakhstan.
Omarova's film should not, however, be praised just for the fact that she succeeded in releasing something authentic and independent in a country where artistic output is so tightly controlled by the state but rather because it's a truly excellent work. Indeed, this is a beautiful, complex, and intelligent work that works wonderfully on so many levels, it hard to fault it for anything. Although Omarova pulls no punches in showing the sometimes bleak existence of her characters, her film is still infused with beauty, hope, and an infinite empathy for her characters. The acting is superb, and Olzhas Nusupbayev is especially wonderful as Mustafa, conveying perfectly the naiveté and confusion of his character.

I can't recommend this film highly enough.

Portrait of a Beauty

2009-08-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

A-

Directed by Jeon Yoon So

Jeon Yoon So's highly fictionalized biopic of the very real Joseon era painter Shin Yoon Bok, although flying in the face of historical accuracy, mines the beautiful and regal costumes and customs of the Joseon Dynasty to their maximum effect, the end result being an absorbing and absolutely gorgeous looking period piece.

Yeong Jun, a young girl, is sent to study under Hong do Kim at the the royal court. Since women were not allowed to paint in any official capacity during the Joseon Dynasty, she poses as a young man, painting under the name Shin Yoon Bok. Her ruse is soon discovered by local mirror salesman Kang Mu who she falls deeply in love with. Keeping the charade going proves difficult, however, as the scheming courtesans and artists of the royal court conspire to reveal Shin Yoon Bok's true identity.

When it comes to period dramas, this is how it's done. Jeon Yoon So mixes lush, beautiful images with lurid melodrama in just the right amounts, providing an experience that is mesmerizing to look at but nonetheless buttressed by some narrative substance. In the end, however, it truly is the visual aspect of Jeon Yoon So's film that linger with the viewers after the credit rolls. The attention to recreating the Joeson period details as accurately as possible is commendable but it's the inspired work of the cinemtographer (whose name I still don't know--reveal yourself!) that steals the show, equally impressive in his (or maybe her--the question seems apt considering the subject matter of the film) fluid camerawork and gorgeous framing of long shots takes "Portrait of a Beauty" to ravishing heights. Jeon Yoon So seems to have realized, however, that it is not enough to simply roll out a parade of ornately dressed courtesans and plop them in the middle of windswept field why the orchestra crescendos in the background and there's some first rate artistic direction in "Portrait of a Beauty" that maximize the impact of the film's already considerable attention to detail and beautiful images. The historical accuracy of "Portrait of a Beauty" was hotly debated upon its release with a number of scholars decrying the liberties taken with Shin Yoon Bok's life, who, in all probability, was in fact a man. Although I have a special disdain reserved for films that try to market themselves as historically accurate but in reality are not, "Portrait of a Beauty" is an obvious fictionalization of a story based on a historical "what if." I have trouble seeing how the historical liberties taken with Shin Yoon Bok's life lessen his legacy, especially since Jeon Yoon So's film is unabashed historical fiction.

Although originality in film is great, there's always a measure of satisfaction in seeing something that's been done before be recreated in an especially new and interesting way. "Portrait of a Beauty" doesn't necessarily go anywhere similar films haven't gone before but it does succeed in lifting itself above the many mediocre entries into the genre.

The Chaser

2009-08-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

A-

Directed by Hong jin Na

Firs time Korean director Hong jin Na tackles the psycho-thriller genre with impressive aplomb, offering a thrilling and gritty cat and mouse game of a movie that nevertheless avoids many of the clichés of the genre.

One time cop turned pimp Joong-ho is dismayed to find that some of his girls keep disappearing in the Mangwon district of Seoul. Suspecting the same client of being behind the disappearances, he attempts to track the location of the john (glad I got to use that term in a review at least once!) by sending in one of his girls, Mi-jin, to gather information on the suspect. Joong ho quickly loses contact with Mi-jin, however, before stumbling on the suspect, a young man named Yeong Min, accidentally and bringing him in to the police station where he suddenly confesses to a number of murders. The case is far from closed, however, as the killer soon begins recanting his story, stonewalling the already inept local police force and leaving Joong Ho in a race against the clock to find his missing girl before the murderer escapes custody and gets to her first.

With "The Chaser", Hong jin Na sticks to the elements that often make for a successful thriller but ups the ante by immediately surprising viewers with an unexpected plot development that, although linear and rather straightforward, is nevertheless quite disorienting for viewers expecting a classic take on the psycho thriller genre. Indeed, viewers are thrown for a loop at the outset of the film by being shown quite early in the film not only what has happened to the missing girls but who is responsible for their disapperances and murders. The suspense therefore shifts from a classic whoodunit to following Joong ho's efforts to locate Mi-jin as well as the killer's efforts to free himself from the clutches of the inept local police force and return to finish the work he had started before his arrest. In so doing, Na's film bucks the trend of many similar films wherein the perpetrator is chased down by a detective attempting to stop him from claiming more victims, essentially turning it into "the bad guy" versus "the law." In "The Chaser," the role of the detective is taken on by a pimp and the killer is not so much trying to evade capture as he is trying to find a way to escape the bureaucratic morass of the bungling police force that is keeping him from getting back to clean up his "work." Brilliant stuff from Na, leading to edge of your seat action that had me hooked from the first frame to the last.

Although "The Chaser" is more a thriller than a character study, the psychological underpinnings of both the killer and the pimp are fleshed out admirably well by Na and are both interesting to consider in their own right. Joong ho, callous and uncaring, does an about face when confronted with the disappearance of Mi jin as well as by the sudden appearance Mi jin's child when he to her appartment following her disappearance. Joong ho's seeming empathy towards the plight of Mi jin, far from being altruistically motivated, is shown rather as being fueled more by concerns about the whereabouts of his property as opposed to the safety or well being of his employees. On the other hand, Yeong Min's motives, at first identified as a violent reaction of frustration to his impotency, are left ambigiously open by the film's end. In both cases, Na avoids easy answers for his characters actions, refusing to simply explain anyone's behavior in a facile manner.

Na's film also works as a rather virulent screed against police ineptitude and bureaucratic red tape in law enforcement, adding an extra layer of political commentary to what could have very easily been an exciting but mindless feature film. Na doesn't seem to be criticizing law enforcement as a whole so much so as the institution itself which often lends itself to slow, ineffective responses that are easily hijacked for personal gain by overzealous officers or corrupt politicians (both of which play a key role in "The Chaser.")

A strong effort by Na, it's hard to believe that "The Chaser" is this guy's first kick at the can.

Fine, Totally Fine

2009-08-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

BDirected by Yosuke Fujita

First time director Yosuke Fujita's airy comedy "Fine, Totally Fine" is an amusing, off kilter look at a group of listless 20-somethings who both fall for the same girl.

Teuro and Hisanobu are two friends attempting to navigate the choppy waters of their twenties (that's where the similarities between Hisanobu, Teuro and I end) Hisanobu is trying to get his career as a hospital maintenance administrator off the ground while Teuro is concerned with finding a way to make a buck off his true calling--scaring people with homemade, DIY contraptions he hopes to someday use in his own haunted house. Life is going along without much action for the boys until beautiful (and hopelessly clumsy) Akari is hired by Hisanobu who quickly becomes infatuated with her. Teuro, obviously not privy to any existing code of conduct between best friends, also falls head over heels for Hisanobu's crush. The boys fail to share any of this information with each other, leading to some dicey situations.

"Fine, Totally Fine" is amusing throughout though rarely hilarious. The understated humour lends itself poorly to any moments of side splitting hilarity but the upside of such a brand of humour is that the laughs come more often and the pace of the film is generally quite good. The supporting cast, most of whom are relative unknowns to Western audiences, are for the most part excellent, especially Arakawa YosiYosi whose full moon face, perpetually plastered with the blankest of gazes, is itself a source of almost constant amusement. In the end, though, none of the characters are that well developed, a shortcoming likely due to Fujita's choice to focus on a number of peripheral characters who, although funny in their own right, prevent the film's three core characters from being adequately fleshed out. "Fine, Totally Fine" is also bogged down by a number of questionable detours such as Teuro's father's journey of spiritual awakening following a bout of depression, which add little to the overall narrative. That said, criticizing a lighthearted comedy for its lack of narrative structure is a bit of a cheap shot. There's no point in demanding that a film which labels itself rather honestly as a paper thin comedy be crucified for its lack of depth, although I truly feel that in the case of "Fine, Totally Fine" greater focus on developing Teuro, Hisanobu and Akari would have done nothing but benefit the film's overall impact.

The Mission

2009-08-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

B+

Directed by Johnnie To

Filmmaker extraordinaire Johnnie To's "The Mission" remains one of his best known and most globally praised works, a crime thriller that features many well known To collaborators in a story of duty and betrayal (boy, does that sound worn out...)

After an unsuccessful hit on crime boss Lung, his right hand man Frank (Simon Yam!) hires mercenaries Curtis, Roy, Shin, James, and Mike to protect the boss and seek out his would be assassins. Once the job is done, however, Frank uncovers an affair between Shin and Lung's wife and commands Curtis to kill Shin. Upon learning about the proposed hit, the other members of the once tight group must choose between loyalty to Lung or their brotherhood with the philanderer Shin.

"The Mission" is a crime thriller which operates largely in the same mold as later films such as "Exiled" and "Fulltime Killer" but is marked by a grittiness that is markedly absent from the films that followed it, giving "The Mission" a much more authenticate veneer than some of To's more elegant crime pieces. Indeed, "The Mission" contains very little in the way of intricately designed gun fights or slo mo showdowns that defy belief, choosing rather to operate in a realm that appears plausible if not completely expected. In many ways, therefore, "The Mission" sits quite nicely between the excesses of the latter two To film on the one hand and the stark and unfliching hyperrealism of "Election" and "Triad Election." Although it is a much better film that some To efforts, "The Mission" falls far short of capturing the magic of his best thrillers. When compared to later efforts, especially "Election" and "Election 2," "The Mission" feels like a warmup for To, a film to test out some of the ideas he would later employ more succesfully in his best work. "The Mission" has enjoyed a large mesure of critical success, especially amongst Western critics who often view it as one of To's major works, if not his masterpiece. Even though "The Mission" is far from a poor effort by To, his prolific career has produced a number of film's that seem to dwarf this effort, most noticeably his "Election" series. Nevertheless, To succeeds with "The Mission" by sticking to the basics and not overreaching, choosing to offer a straightforward tale of brotherhood and betrayal that gives sacrifices some intellectual weight in order to offer more gunplay, almost never a bad idea when it comes to this type of film. The film's rather obvious lack of pretension also makes it quite easy to overlook some its more shallow aspects. As a final note of interest, "The Mission" features some of To's longtime collaborators such as Simon Yam and Suet Lam in top shape, giving the film some recognizable faces for Western viewers that are also excellent actors in their own right. Suet Lam is especially effective as James, a role that garnered him a nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Khadak

2009-08-02T17:07:00.001-07:00

B-

Directed by Peter Brosen's and Jessica Hope Woodworth

Peter Brosen's and Jessica Hope Woodworth's enigmatic "Khadak" is as beautiful as it is confusing, a trippy trek through the Mongolian steppes that is anchored by ravishing sceneries but is significantly weighed down by its own pretentions and incoherences.

Bagi, a young nomad living with his parents on the frigid Mongolian steppes is suddenly informed by local authorities that his cattle has fallen victim to the plague. The authorities force Bagi and his elderly parents to relocate to a nearby village, hastily set up to receive the displaced masses, and then proceed to eradicate the diseased animals. The family finds it difficult to adapt to the new surroundings and Bagi, aimless and jobless, eventually falls in with a group of wandering student performers and falls in love with their beautiful leader, Zolzaya.

As beautiful as Khadak is to look at (and it's gorgeous, to be sure) it simply fails to make much sense, working as a series of nonlinear vignettes that are slapped together and presented to the viewer, covered in a thick layer of symbolism that doesn't seem to carry the story anywhere that it could have gone without it. In the "Making of" presented as part of "Khadak" the narrator claims that "Khadak's" story actually emerges from the film's non-linearity, a cop out if I've ever heard one. The frustrating thing about "Khadak" is that there's a genuinely interesting story lurking behind the murk of many pretentious throwaway scenes. Indeed, "Khadak" hints at an interesting investigation of minority ways of life being trampled underfoot by the unrelenting advance of the free market in the developing world but in the end only allows for a superficial handling of the subject. Likewise, the relationship between Bagi and Zolzaya is not allowed to gain any steam, weighed down by constant detours that detract from the film's core characters. The whole thing feels haphazard at times, as if the directors were given top grade film stock and a green light to capture the beauty of the Mongolian steppes but once they arrived forgot that they needed a story to tell or a script to tell it. That said, "Khadak" really is gorgeous and it's worth a look if nothing more than for the images, captured beautifully by cinematographer Rimvydas Leipus.

Crime or Punishment?!?

2009-07-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

Directed by Keralino Sandorovich

Although Japan has produced a number of memorable comedies in recent years, it has also produced a fair share of obnoxious, derivative offerings as well. Keralino Sandorovich's "Crime or Punishment?!?" certainly falls into the latter category, suffering from poor pacing, forgettable performances, lame jokes, and a seemingly non-existent script all of which make Sandorovich's film a comedy that feels like it's both a crime and a punishment

Struggling model Ayame sees her career hit a new low when she is caught shoplifting a magazine in which she has mistakenly been placed upside down. As a form of community service and public relations patch job, her agent gets her a gig as "Police Chief for the Day" at the local precinct. The job description, however, is much thornier than Ayame had originally believed. Before long, she's being counted on to do serious police work and is soon in control of the entire police force.

"Crime or Punishment" appears to be devoid of any central planning, a mishmash of loosely linked ideas that seem to have been tossed up onto the screen, given a stir and expected to come out looking sleek and cohesive. Unfortunately for Sandorovich, you can't simply string together a bunch of unconnected ideas and call it a movie no more than you can polish a turd and call it gold. To be sure, there are some funny moments in "Crime or Punishment?!?" but a comedy, especially one that focuses on delivering a rather base type of humor, should deliver more than the occasional chuckle. Sandorovich's film also comes off as a poorly executed rehash of a film I've seen a hundred times before, the kooky, slightly off kilter, devil may care asian comedy. I think a tip of the cap is always in order for a director that really goes out of his or her way to make an original film yet comes up short. On the other hand, directors who insists on making a movie that's neither original nor particularly challenges the genre in any way better be sure to provide a solid effort or their failure will only be more evident. Sandorovich's film certainly breaks no new ground and does a poor job of aping its more succesful predecessors. A poor effort, to be sure.

Black

2009-07-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

B

Directed by Pierre Laffargue

French director Pierre Laffargue's crowd pleasing thriller "Black" hearkens back to the glory of "Shaft" but this time without the extravagant suits and with a healthy dose of inner city, African flair.

After bungling a stick up in Paris, small time crook Black, tipped off to the presence of a stash of blood diamonds in the vault of a poorly guarded bank in his native Senegal, returns home to attempt the big score. What Black believes will be an easy take, however, soon becomes a far more complicated affair when a number of parties, from an undercover Interpol agent to a band of Russian mercenaries, get involved. In over his head, Black must find a way to survive and keep his hands on the diamonds.

Laffargue and members of his crew attended the screening of "Black" at Fantasia and you could tell that they all had loads of fun making this movie, a fact that comes out loud and clear to the viewer. "Black" is fun to watch, an unabashed crowd pleaser that nevertheless doesn't worry about pandering to its audience, choosing to play by its own rules rather than follow the standard formula most thrillers tend to. The action, set in the streets of Dakkar, is both exciting and slightly disorienting, the cityscape being unfamiliar to most filmgoers (myself included) and the chase scenes, often featuring multiple parties looking to put their mits on the diamonds, are exhilirating, butressed by a head bobbingly good soundtrack. MC Jean Gab, a freanch rap artist who plays the charismatic Black, looks nothing less than comfortable in this role and he seems to have truly tuned into the direction Laffargue was going with this film, his performance a rollicking mix of muscle and charm. "Black' takes an odd turn towards African mysticism in its third act, an interesting choice to say the least by Laffargue and one which was likely offputting to many viewers who were perfectly content to continue watching Black run around the streets of Dakkar, eluding bad guys. I personally enjoyed Laffargue's detour into the surreal, if nothing else than because it's a gutsy choice to make in a film like "Black" where everything good have so easily been formulaic.

On the whole, "Black" is a film made to be enjoyed and enoyable it certainly is.

Slam Bang

2009-07-18T20:29:00.001-07:00

C-

Directed by Mark Lebenon

Fantasia prides itself on showcasing a number of DIY feature efforts every year, the quality of which often varies wildly. South African director Mark Lebenon's low budget action effort "Slam Bang" is, despite the best intentions of Lebenon and his crew, an unofrtunate miss, a film that suffers from a messy script and plot holes the size of the Grand Canyon.

IT guy George sees his boring, ordered life take an unexpected turn when he is ordered to steal some data by a mysterious criminal named "The Chinaman." Should George fail to do this, The Chinaman has promised to off George's girlfriend. Hoping to do the deed as quickly and effortlessly as possible, George qickly sees his plans go off the rails, forcing him to go on the lam as hired assassins and The Chinaman's own henchmen try to locate George and retrieve the date.

Truth be told, the DIY aspect of "Slam Bang" was rather enjoyable. Knowing that the director was working with a low budget (or even no budget) and that most of the key actors were likely his buddies or casual acquaintances made me appreciate the whole thing more than I normally would have simply because the film was obviously a labor borne elusively of love. That said, "Slam Bang" is not a very good film, even by DIY standards. The acting is bad, even for amateurs, and the script is laughable. The action scenes lack credibility and the film's short length leave its character's underdeveloped and give the film an almost anecdotal flavor. In all fairness, constructing a believable, adequately sleek looking action film on a negligeable budget is almost impossible.Sure, it's been done before (El Mariachi, for instance) but the fact of the matter is that action flicks take a budget and "Slam Bang" doesn't have one. I also think that if "Slam Bang" had been a bit more tongue in cheek and not so dead serious about its intentions it may have had some further success. As it stands now, it's a film that tries to hard and ends up overreaching its limited budget, essentially swinging for the fences with a whiffle bat.

Tokyo OnlyPic

2009-07-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

C-

Directed by Riichiro Mashima

Disappointing in every way imaginable, Riichiro Mashima's "Tokyo OnlyPic" is a mishmash of animation and live action sporting spoofs that completely fails to capitalize on the richness of the material it intends to skewer, serving rather as a perfect example of why successful shorts often shouldn't be expanded into full length films.

The premise of "Tokyo OnlyPic" is to present a series of wacky sports events taking place at an alternative global summer games, the "Tokyo OnlyPics. The events range from human bowling game called "Humanism" to a game called "Brancer," where participants on a swing compete to see how far they can catapult their shoes off their feet.There's not much more to explain about the plot than that, so I won't force myself to extend the sypnosis any further.

I didn't expect to be blown away by "Tokyo OnlyPic," based mostly on my prior knowledge of its rather gimmicky premise, but I did at least expect to be amused by it. Unfortunately, this was not to be as "Tokyo OnlyPic" was for the most part a snoozer. A few segments, notably the OnlyPic opening ceremonies, Bill Plympton's "Luv Race", and the "1000 Character SMS Race," I found to be truly funny but the rest of the "Tokyo OnlyPic" events, however, varied from mildly amusing to just plain stupid. At 117 minutes, the film is far too long for what is essentially a one trick pony and the humor, although sometime effective, mostly elicited yawns rather than laughs from the usually enthusiastic Fantasia crowd. The badness of "Tokyo OnlyPic" really boils down to the fact that you can't just toss a bunch a loosely related and mediocre vignettes onto the screen and expect it to form a cohesive or even acceptable whole to come out. I highly doubt "Tokyo Oylimpic" will ever be widely available in North America but if it ever is, do yourself a favor and skip it.

Thirst

2009-07-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

B+

Directed by Chan wook Park

Chan wook Park's eagerly anticipated vampire movie "Thirst" arrived at Fantasia hot off of a Grand Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival and amid excessively high expectations from Park's local fanbase. Although "Thirst" contains much of what one would expect from a Park film--a flair for the dramatic, visual fireworks and a healthy dose of weirdness--it nevertheless fails to live up to some of Park's earlier and better known works.

"Thirst" opens as Sang-hyeon, a devout Catholic priest, willfully infects himself with the deadly Emmanuel Virus in order to test his faith in God. Hope against hope, he survives the virus and soon find himself elevated to semi-sainthood by his Catholic flock. He soon discovers, however, that the virus is simply in temporary remission and the only way to prevent a relapse is by drinking human blood. At the same time, Sang-hyeon begins to be drawn away from his calling as a priest and further towards desires of the flesh, leading him to pursue a highly illicit romance with the wife of one of his childhood acquaintances.

I may have been expecting too much from Chan wook Park (and based on his track record, who could blame me) but "Thirst" left me a bit nonplussed. Yes, it was aesthetically pleasing, well acted, and contained many flourishes of the brilliance that has made Park a household name but the overall cohesiveness of it didn't measure up to most of Park's other works, especially his Vengeance Trilogy. One of the reasons for this is that "Thirst" appears to lack any of the clear narrative focus that typified many of Park's earlier films. In his Vengeance Trilogy, for instance, a character is always wronged in some way and goes after the person (or persons) that have wronged them in search of retribution. In "Thirst," there appears to be no real focus beyond following the trials and tribulations of (the priest) as he struggles with his new, blood thirsty, identity.

That said, this is still a Chan wook Park film which means it contains its fair share of brilliant moments. Park is, like many Asian directors, endlessly inventive but what really sets him apart is how polished his films are while still brimming with creativity. Even before he hit the big time and secured significant financing for his films, Park's work was always crisp, clean, and aesthetically flawless. "Thirst" is no disappointment in that regard, the film's visual impact and editing are both remarkable and elevate the film from mediocre and meandering to enjoyable and worthwhile. Park's command of the medium are not enough, however, to vault "Thirst" into the rarefied air of "Oldboy" and "Lady Vengeance" but it's nevertheless worth watching.

Ip Man

2009-07-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

B-

Directed by Wilson Yip

Im Man (original name Yip Man) popularized Wing Chun in Canton and later became famous as Bruce Lee's master. Yip's biopic focuses on the life and times of Ip Man, specifically before and during the Japanese occupation of Fo Shan before Ip Man's ultimate (move to Hong Kong). Although the film takes significant liberties in telling Ip man's story (so much so that Ip Man could fairly be called a work of fiction) Yip's work is not without it pleasures, mainly to be found in the many combat scenes starring Donnie Yen.

In the mid 1930's, Ip Man's home town of Fo Shan has become the cradle of Wing Chun with a huge number of enthusiastic participants and new martial arts schools sprouting up all over the city. Despite the influx of new talent to the city, Ip Man remains the best the city has to offer, regularly vanquishing challengers with ease. His talents earn him the respect of the city's population and the reverent awe of all Wing Chun enthusiasts far and wide. Ip Man's relatively laid back lifestyle is suddenly and irrevocably disturbed as the Chinese mainland is invaded by the Japanese Imperial Army. Ip Man must now fight not for pleasure but to preserve his very way of life.

As a film, Ip Man is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, its action scenes are simply terrific. Donnie Yen gives a physically impressive performance as Ip Man and there really isn't much to criticize when it comes to the action sequences. On the other hand, the narrative often lacks focus and the film tends to meander along at a bit of slow pace until interrupted by a fight scene.Although the plot of a martial arts film is always secondary to it's action sequences, it should nonetheless advance the story or at least provide credibility to the action scenes which the narrative in Ip Man fails to do. Ip Man's life is barely believable, a non-stop succession of mindless duels between Ip Man and various challengers. Although martial arts biopics such as "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" often take considerable liberties with their subject's life, "Ip Man" really takes it to another level, essentially telling up nothing about Ip Man besides that he had seemingly never lost a fight with anyone, ever.

Like many films dealing with the Sino-Japanese war, Ip Man drips with bitterness towards the Japanese invaders, painting them as callous, murderous, and unwaveringly evil. Although the Imperial Army certainly had its faults, I find it disappointing to still run across so many films that seem to perpetuate the hurt feelings caused by Japanese military aggression. The generally insensitive handling of Sino-Japanese relations throughout the film appears to closely mirror the continually poor diplomatic relations between Japan and many of its East Asian counterparts. It's a shame, really.

Despite all its faults and culturally insensitivity, Ip Man is not at all a bad film. It's rather quite enjoyable and boast immensely enjoyable martial arts sequences. It's only too bad that Yip couldn't capitalize on the prowess of Donnie Yen to make this a better film.

Love Exposure

2009-07-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

A-

Directed by Sion Sono

I must admit that I've never been a huge fan of Fantasia darling Sion Sono, the director of the enjoyable but unspectacular "Suicide Club" and the misanthropic (in my opinion) "Strange Circus." Although Sono's talent is undeniable, I've always felt that he wasted it in pursuit of shock value or cheap thrills. His latest, however, the four hour epic "Love Exposure" is an altogether satisfying and at times brilliant cinematic experience that is as impressive as it is enjoyable.

"Love Exposure" revolves around Yu, a 17 year old boy of a widowed priest. His relationship with his father is to say the least rocky, leading Yu to join a band of hooligans with whom he finds a measure of friendship. At the same time, Yu keeps his eyes open for his soul mate who he had promised his dying mother he would find and present to her. He finally strikes gold when he meets his true love by chance after coming to her rescue (dressed in drag) and fighting off a rival gang of hoodlums. The only problem is that Yoko, his love interest, quickly becomes infatuated with Yu's female persona "Miss Scorpion." Confusion ensues.

The first thing that must be said about "Love Exposure" is that its four hour running time is not only bearable, it flies by. I never found myself looking at my watch or getting up for frequent bathroom breaks. Rather, I was enthralled by Sono's film and too busy watching the story develop to worry about how long I had been sitting in the same seat. "Love Exposure's" length, far from hampering the film, actually helps it insofar as the film's characters are so well developed at the end of its running time that it feels like they could walk of the screen. Even secondary characters such as Yu's father and Koike are given extraordinary depth that likely would have been impossible had Sion Sono's chosen to wittle down the length of the film.
Although it is wacky and irreverent and weird in the manner that all of Sion Sono's films are, "Love Exposure" is also a surprisingly poignant and intelligent study on the nature of love. At one point, Yoko attempts to rid herself of Yu by telling him that he does not know what love is, yelling the words of first Corinthians 13 at him, the irony being, of course, that Yu's love for Yoko throughout the film is, in fact, patient, kind, does not envy or boast and is not proud, but is rather a pure and determined commitment. It's interesting stuff, especially coming from Sion Sono whose character's are often involved in abusive or sexually exploitative relationships. The whole tenor male/female relationships in "Love Exposure" is in fact much different than in Sono's previous works, and his softened view (if you can call it that) appears to be stripped of some of the misanthropy and cynicism found in his previous works, something that I personally find refreshing.
"Love Exposure" is not without many glaring flaws but I nevertheless feel that almost everything that is bad about "Love Exposure" pales in comparison to what is good.

Dispatches from the 2009 Fantasia Film Festival

2009-07-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. The Fantasia Festival returns for its 13th year and I'll be there on a semi-regular basis, waiting in lines, watching films, and generally being an unproductive member of society. This year's festival will put a particular emphasis on Hong Kong cinema so I'm quite excited to see some of the films offered. During the first week of the festival I will be watching few notable films including "Thirst," Chan Wook Park's latest, as well as Sion Sono's four hour epic "Love Exposure." I'll hopefully be updating my blog on a more regular basis than I have in the past few months.

Temptress Moon

2009-07-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

B-

Directed by Chen Kaige

Chen Kaige, the director of "Farewell my Concubine" (watch it if you haven't already) treads familiar ground with his period piece "Temptress Moon" but somehow delivers an unsuccesful and disappointing film, albeit a beautiful one to look at.

Gong Li plays Pang Ruyi, the sole heir to the Pang Clan's fortune after he brother is incapacitated by an arsenic laced batch of opium. Ruyi, herself an opium user, reluctantly takes over control of the Pang estate with the help of her distant cousin Pang Duanwu. Meanwhile, Ruyi's childhood friend Yu Zhongliang (Cheung) is busy in Shanghai, hustling wealthy women by bedding them and then threatening to reveal the details to their spouses. The two meet up once again when Zhongliang's boss, learning of Ruyi's fortuitious inheritance, sends him to the Pang estate to ply his trade on Ruyi.

Despite enormous potential, "Temptress Moon" never really gets off the ground, moving along at a rather deliberate pace until the film has run out of real estate, so to speak. Leslie Cheung and Gong Li, both immensely talented actors, aren't used very creatively in Chen Kaige's film, Cheung reprising his usual role as the callous ladies man and Gong Li playing the naive beauty, a character she is well accustomed to. What is most disappointing about "Temptress Moon,' however, is that despite the presence of Christopher Doyle (more on him later) and two very talented and magnetic stars in Cheung and Gong Li, Kaige fails to recapture any of the magic of "Farewell my Concubine" despite both film's historical setting and melodramatic overtones. I would argue that it comes down to the script, insofar as "Farewell my Concubine" boasts an extremely focused narrative whereas "Temptress Moon" sort of meanders along, trying to achieve a slow burn but rather losing gas as it sputters along.

Not all is lost, however. "Temptress Moon," as shallow as it is, is nonetheless a pretty sight to behold. Chris Doyle's cinematography is fantastic as always, further reinforcing the point that whatever your film lacks in substance it can make up for in imagery and beauty if you can convince Mr. Doyle to come on board (easier said than done, however, since Doyle isn't exactly a workaholic) Doyle's cinematography is always gorgeous but what impressed me the most about his work in .Temptress Moon' is how creative he gets with his camerawork without (intruding into the story). In one shot, the camera moves along in front of Duanwa as he races through a network of alleyways, then leaves him completely and turns around the corner, panning out on an empty alleyway and leaving Duanwu, who has stopped at a doorway completely out of the frame, until Duanwa reappears a moment later. It's these types of little visual details, subtle yet exciting, that make Doyle's work so consistently fantastic.

Doyle's presence alone saves "Temptress Moon" from mediocrity but it's still far from one of Chen Kaige's most succesful films.

The Slit Mouthed Woman

2009-07-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

D-

Directed by Koji Shiraishi

The many remakes of Asian horror films by Hollywood in recent years have given moviegoers the mistaken impression that Asia produces an unending supply of top notch horror flicks that are subsequently butchered by big American studios. Although plenty of this exists, rest assured that a fair share of awful Asian horror films see the light of day every year, 'Slit Mouthed Woman" being one of the worst I've seen in awhile.

"Slit Mouthed Woman" opens with the startling news that a woman, whose mouth is, you guessed it, slit, has been kidnapping children in broad daylight from an otherwise sleepy Japanese suburb. Elementary schoolteacher Kyoko attempts to keep her students away from harm by leading them back to home as a group only to have young Mayumi (I watched this film awhile ago so this may have actually been one of the girl's names...or the name of a male teacher. Whatever.) snatched by the evil Slit Mouthed Woman! A manhunt ensues as the authorities and Kyoko try to find the young boy and the other abducted children.

SMW suffers from woefully substandard production, featuring an amateurish sheen that is acceptable only for student films and intentially B-Rate productions that are trying to make a joke out of their tight budget. The punch to the narrative, if you want to call it that, is both confusing and disappointing, a cop out that would have been more palatable if the lead up to the reveal was worthwhile which, of course, it was not. I feel compelled to give the acting a bit of a pass since most of it is done by children who, truth be told, shouldnt be held to a very high standard of thespian excellence. Nonetheless, I,ve seen my fair share of films feautring untrained child actors and can safely say that this batch of kids is especially bad. The adult actors are no better, and the film's casting is a veritable clinic in how not to cast a movie. All in all, this is a bad, bad, bad, bad movie. Since I feel like I've done my duty by alerting my faithful public to the badness of this movie, and since I don't foresee anyone taking issue with my conclusion that this is, indeed, a very bad movie, I feel comfortable ending this review as it stands now.

Star Trek

2009-06-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

B+

Directed by J.J. Abrams

"Lost" creator J.J. Abrams resurrects the timeless "Star Trek" series in time for summer blockbuster season and, hope against hope, it turns out to be a pretty darn good movie.

"Star Trek" opens with the death of Captain George Kirk, James' father, killed by Captain Nero who's planet, Romulus, had been destroyed in a previous intergalactic incident. Kirk's untimely demise comes at the exact same moment as his young son's birth. Abrams film follows James and young Spock as they make their way through Starfleet Academy and then join the USS Enterprise and ultimately come head to head with the evil Nero, still roaming the sky, seekign vengeance against those who allowed his planet to be destroyed.

Truth be told, I'm no Trekkie. In fact, I've probably watched Star Trek maybe once or twice in my life and never felt compelled in any way shape or form to follow the exploits of Spock and the USS Enterprise. However, as many of you already know, I am a fan of the summer blockbuster, so my past knowledge of Star Trek was really besides the point. I must say that despite my lack of knowledge of Star Trek, I never felt lost while watching the film, an indication that Abrams and Co. Willfully and succesfully dumbed down their film in an effort to attract as many viewers as possible. Although some Trekkies may have been put off by the wide reaching appeal of the film, most run of the mill moviegoers such as myself benefited greatly from not having to read or watch seasons and seasons worth of source material before sitting down to watch Star Trek. Star Trek's accessibility is far from its strongest point, however, and its visual style is worth noting. Indeed, Abrams and Co. take the bizarre and sometimes campy world of Star Trek and give it a contemporary, sleek veneer, making the world of Star Trek both familiar to those who grew up watching the show and yet believable visually exciting tho those who haven't.

Star Trek proves to be such a satisfying experience because Abrams sticks to the blockbuster game plan--bathe the screen in jaw dropping special effects, throw in some likable, recognizable, but non threatening cast members, leave out the moralizing or political grandstanding, and focus every fibre of your film's being on entertaining its audience. Although Abrams doesn't reinvent Star Trek in the way that Chris Nolan flipped the Batman franchise on its head, you cannot and should not expect every film adaptation of a TV show, film franchise, comic book, etc. to reinvent the wheel. In the end, Star Trek is a hugely entertaining film that is well worth the admission and even satisfying to Trekkies (or at least I imagine it was since I didn't hear much protest coming from them), which equals mission accomplished for Abrams and Co.

The Battle of Algiers

2009-06-22T17:06:00.002-07:00

A+

Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo

There are a few films that can be considered the final word on a certain genre or movement. A film like Visconti's "The Leopard" for instance, can fairly be considered the touchstone of costume epics, the beginning and end of any conversation on the genre. Likewise, Gillo Pontecorvo's flawless "The Battle of Algiers" is THE film about armed resistance, a perfect storm of inspired film making, politically astute commentary, and biting social critique.

Pontecorvo's film opens as popular opposition to Frnehc colonial rule begins to mount in Algiers. Local casbah resident Ali La Pointe (Brahim Hadjadj) joins the Algerian insurgency and begins to carry out tactical assasinations of French police officers in the city. The violence soon escalates, however, and the insurgents and European settlers exchange increasingly violent blows, culminating in the bombings of a trio of cafés in the city's European district. Desperate to cut off the insurgency, the French government calls in the grizzled Lieutenant Colonel Mathieu who mounts a counter offensive against the insurgents in hopes of stifling the movement once and for all.

"The Battle of Algiers" is rightfully regarded as one of the finest films deal with popular uprising or armed conflict and its accuracy in depicting armed insurgency's is breathtaking. Indeed, the film was screened in The Pentagon by the Department of Defense in 2004 during the thick of the Iraqi insurgency in order to give viewers insight into the realities of armed insurgency and the difficulty of both stifling an insurgency without alienating the local population. The political stance of Pontecorvo in "The Battle of Algiers" is far from unbiased but one could argue that no truly good political film has ever been completely objective. Pontecorvo, despite his obvious sympathy for the insurgents and their plight, nonetheless treats both sides fairly and seems to concede that despite the errors of colonialism, at least some of the French were simply trying to defend a political structure that, although woefully outdated and repressive, they still strongly believed in. Despite the politically charged nature of the subject matter, Pontecorvo does an impressive job of letting the intrigue play out without getting overinvolved or becoming preachy, preferring to let the story unfold in a way that seems authentic. As ambitious as the film's subject matter is, its particular aesthetic (equally ambitious, I would argue) shines through brightly. Street scenes, large public gatherings, riots, bombings, military operations and more are all rendered with complexity and stunning realism, giving the film an even more authentic feel.

Where are the updates???

2009-06-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

I know that my faithful readers have no doubt been wondering about the lack of updates. The only excuse I can offer is that I've been trying to catch up on David Simon's excellent HBO show, "The Wire." I recently watched seasons two, three, and four and I must say that it is hands down the most intelligent, engrossing, and truly excellent show I've ever followed. For those of you who don't know the show's premise, it follows dozens of characters in Baltimore, Maryland, from small time drug dealers to convicted criminals to cops to city officials, and explores issues of crime, poverty, and urban destitution in a city that is for the most part far removed from the American Dream. It's a significant investment of time but I can't recommend this show enough. It's absolutely fantastic.

Film reviews will be reappearing shortly. I hope.

Clean

2009-05-30T08:57:00.001-07:00

B+

Directed by Olivier Assayas

Olivier Assayas teams up with his ex-wife Maggie Cheung to make the effective and quite enjoyable "Clean," a story about one woman's long road back from substance abuse.

Cheung plays Emily, the wife of an over the hill rock star Lee who tries to manage her husband's career but more than often simply gets in the way of his success. Emily and Lee are also longtime heroin addicts. Their drug abuse turns tragic in, of all places, Hamilton Ontario where Lee, after a fight with Emily, overdoses and dies. Emily is taken into custody and sentenced to six months in prison for drug possession. Upon her release she meets with her father in law (played by Nick Nolte) who has been looking after he young son, Jay. Emily leaves for Paris and begins the long and difficult process of rebuilding her life in an ultimate effort to someday see Jay again.

Movies dealing with drug use are rather common but films such as "Clean," which focus on recovery from drug use as opposed to the abuse of narotics, are much more rare, perhaps due to the fact that recovery, unlike self destruction, doesn't lend itself as well to dramatic adaptations. Assayas's film proves, however, that the road back from drug addiction can be a fascinating subject matter indeed. In "Clean" Emily's recovery, and not her past excesses, is the focal point but the cost of her former lifestyle is not smoothed over by Assayas who quite effectively uses his picture to show the life altering effects of drug abuse, even years after the habit is finally quicked to the curb. At the same time, Assayas tries to get inside the mind of a drug user and explain why, exactly, individuals often give themselves up to substance abuse.

What truly elevates "Clean", however, is Cheung whose performance here is spectacular. This comes as no surprise to audiences familiar with much of her previous work but hr ability to convincingly play Emily, a brash and reckless junkie, flies in the face of much of her better known work where she primarily starred as a demure, reserved, and mannered woman. Cheung's ability to switch from English to French to Cantonese also gives some added credibility to her character's background as a globetrotting rocker even though Cheung's real life persona is as far removed from that as possible. Nick Nolte is also solid and his character is surprisingly three dimensional. Rather than being a bitter, remorseful father who blames Emily for his son's death, he is rather a mild mannered and caring character who attempts, not without trouble, to raise Emily's child while still keeping her as much a part of her son's life as possible. It's touching stuff, for sure, but it also feels more authentic than having Emily face off against a spiteful father bent on keeping her away from her child, a choice the writers of "Clean" could easily have made.

"Clean," although not one of Assayas's premier works, is an satisfying film that handles its subject matter both fairly and effectively.

Twilight

2009-05-29T10:27:00.001-07:00

C

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke

As much as I try to deny it, I'm a sucker for huge blockbusters. If a film is exciting popular interest I'll more than likely end up watching it just to see what the fuss is about. I often, however, resist the urge to check these types of films out in the movie theater where I would have to shell out my hard earned cash on what would likely prove to be a mildly disappointing or at best mindless and superficial outing and succeed in waiting until these types of movies are available on DVD or even, dare I even say it, on the internet. Catherine Hardwicke's "Twilight," the film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's wildly succesful vampire novel for teens, certainly qualifies as a blockbuster but I can safely say that I'm glad I waited for it to be out on DVD before I viewed it since this is not, in any terms, a very good film.

To those of you unfamiliar with Meyer's mega bestseller, "Twilight" focuses on the young Bella Swan, a girl from the Sunbelt who is sent to live with her father in the rainy and damp Northwest. She enrolls in the local high school and is immediately mesmerized by the dreamy, pasty white Edward Cullen. Bella's interest in Edward and his mysterious family only deepens as he tries to stear clear of her, a further indication that ladies love guys who are hopelessly aloof. As hard as he tries, however, bad boy Edward can't seem to stay away from Bella as she comes closer and closer to unconvering the truth about Edward and his family.

Vampire films have enjoyed something of a revival in the past few years with the real gem of the movement being Thomas Alfredson's "Let the Right One In." "Twilight," although a similar in its re-imagination of vampire mythology, is obviously no in the same vein as Alfredson's film, being aimed squarely at the same demographic that have so religiously read Meyer's book. As such, Hardwicke's primary goal in adapting "Twilight" to the big screen was likely to stay faithful to the book and deliver the type of swooning, PG Rated romance that "Twilight" readers crave. In Having not read the book it is difficult for me to come out and categorically say that Hardwicke failed in this regard but it seems top me that the essence of "Twilight" was not captured by Hardwicke's adaptation. It must be said that most "Twilight" fans weren't huge supporters of the film adaptation either, which many felt failed to accurately capture the essence of Meyer's novel. Not surprisingly, Hardwicke was swiftly canned after "Twilight" opened to mixed reviews from critics and outrage from fans.
As a viewer with no vested interest in the "Twilight" franchise I must say that on a purely cinematic level, "Twilight" is not a very good film. The story meanders along at a pedestrian pace, the acting is for the most part average and the romantic chemistry between Pattison and Kristen Stewart is lacking, which is probably "Twilight's" biggest failure since the books are in the end a romance between Pattison's Edward and Kristen's Bella.
Despite the failures of the first installment of "Twilight" all is not lost for the franchise which can still bank on the popularity of actors such as Pattison who, despite his inability to fully sell me on his romance with Stewart's character, is not that bad of an actor, as well as the fact that its source material, Meyer's books, have already been given the thumbs up by millions worldwide. All that is left to be done for "New Moon," "Breaking Dawn" and the third book, whose name escapes me at the moment, is to put someone mildly competent at the helm and simply interpret the books accurately.

Boy A

2009-05-27T19:02:00.001-07:00

A-

John Crowley

John Crowley's fantastic "Boy A" is a meditation on guilt and the human capacity for change that is a terrific example of how a film can tackle a controversial issue in a way that avoids moralizing and actually stirs healthy debate.

"Boy A" open with the release of Jack, a young offender now in his early twenties who, we learn slowly throughout the film, was incarcerated for a violent crime committed when he was still a young boy. With the help of his parole officer Terry, Jack attempts to rebuild his life in a new city, taking a job as a delivery boy in a local plant. Things begin smoothly for Jack who makes friends quickly with his coworkers and even succeeds in landing a girlfriend. Jack's new life, however, is constantly threatened by his past, a past the he and Terry try hard to hide from those around him.

Crowley's film is truly remarkable on many levels. The acting, most of it done by relative unknowns, is fantastic. The work of Andrew Garfield, who plays Jack, is especially worth mentioning as Garfield gives a textured, multifaceted performance that reveals Jack to be what Crowley no doubt wanted him to be--a kindhearted young man who is nonetheless deeply affected both by the guilt of his actions as well as by the burden of having to hide his previous life from those around him. Crowley's direction is superb and he does what most directors often fail or simply refuse to do by taking himself as far out of the story as possible and allowing the characters and story to develop on their own. "Boy A's" veracity and emotional poignancy come mostly from the fact that Jack is a character who appears authentic; his existence is not simply in order to drive home a point about the nature of young offenders or the shortcomings of the penal system in the UK or even the nefarious effect of media on the recovery and reintegration of criminals into society.
As terrific as "Boy A" is I still must admit that I was disappointed by Crowley's refusal to make some tough choices in telling the story. There was a great opportunity here to tell the story of the rehabilitation of a young offender in the wake of a horrible crime that he had gladly or at least willingly participated in, a more potent storyline that would have given audience much more food for thought than "Boy A's" portrayal of Jack as the unwitting participant in a murder committed by the more emotionally scarred Philip. The audience is therefore forced to feel outright sympathy for the kindhearted Jack as opposed to any other mix of emotions which is unfortunate since the subject matter touched on by Crowley lends itself very well to a fascinating study of guilt, culpability, and the ability of human's to truly change, all fascinating subjects that are not often enough skillfully touched on in the cinema.
Nevertheless, there is far too much good in "Boy A" to ignore and Crowley's film deserves not only to be seen but the issues he raises on the rehabilitation of young offers and their reintegration into society are both pertinent and necessary to consider.